Supergirl - Blood Ties
by Kung-fu Blaziken
Summary: The pod did not bring a new ally. It instead brought a curse upon the Last Daughter of Krypton. Can she remain a beacon of hope? Or will she succumb to the thirst for blood?
1. Infection

_I don't own Supergirl. DC Comics owns the character, and the TV series is owned by Warner Bros and the CW._

 _Also, Seigel and Shuster families? Yeah, okay, Superman and related works created by Jerry Seigel and Joe Shuster._

 _Bases covered? Okay, great._

 _So…_

 _Now you guys know what happens when you mix anemia with binge-watching of Supergirl's second season._

 _Okay, in all seriousness, let's get some housekeeping out of the way. First, I'm fine now. Blood counts are up, I'm taking iron supplements and adjusting my diet, etc. This idea just came to me when I was sick this summer and it wouldn't leave, so I started putting it down and couldn't really stop._

 _Second, a pair of characters show up periodically, one more than the other. They are based on a pair of characters from the Castlevania franchise, but I just borrowed the names and some details. Other details are radically different enough that I feel like can safely call them mine, hence why Castlevania isn't in the disclaimer._

 _(For one thing, my Shanoa is Irish…)_

 _Third, the elephant in the room: Mon-El. As you might have guessed from the summary, this AU does not include him. In fact, it goes out of its way to remove him from the equation altogether. There is a very good reason for this:_

I don't like him.

 _As a character, he never really gelled with me until near the end, and I spent most of the season grinding my teeth at his antics. When the romantic angle was pushed, it got even worse. He lied to Kara from day one (which, no Music Meister, she is completely in the right for being mad about), he repeatedly disrespected her in several ways, and I never bought the chemistry between them. I kept thinking to myself_ 'She's got more chemistry with Lena Luthor, and they're not even a couple!' _Imagine my surprise when I look up fan works and find I'm not the only one who had that particular thought._

 _Fourth, bit of a slow burn as far as Kara and Lena. Kara's going to have some issues to work out first._

 _Now, with all the out of the way, have a Merry Christmas and enjoy this tale of a sunny superhero being turned into a menacing creature of shadow!_

 _…_

 _Fa-la-la-la-la, La-la-la-la…_

* * *

 **Supergirl: Blood Ties**

Chapter 1

Infection

Kara sighed as she looked at the comatose body. The whole affair was a mystery. The pod had looked Kryptonian at first glance, but closer inspection revealed it to be a clever mimicry. The passenger within looked human, down to his internal organs, but everything else screamed alien. But what it was, they didn't know. None of the DEO records had this.

The alien was pale, with thin black hair and a hooked nose. Something about the overall aesthetic seemed familiar, but Kara couldn't put her finger on it.

"I'm not even sure you can hear me. I hope that little adventure I told was entertaining regardless."

A wistful smile graced her face.

"It just felt so good. Me and him, working together and being heroes. I would certainly like more Super team-ups in the future. I love Clark, but…he's just not around very much. It would be nice to have a relationship with more to it than texting. Granted, the texts would always be a highlight of my days, but still…"

She leaned back, lost in thought.

"I wonder if I can pick his brain for reporter stuff. He's been at that for so long, I could probably use some tips."

So lost in thought was she, that she missed the twitching of the alien at first. It was only when the heart rate monitor picked up that she noticed.

"Oh, Rao! You're waking up!"

She leaned forward to check him over when his eyes snapped open. Kara was taken aback at them, a blood-red glow emanating from their depths and filling the whole eye.

And then the alien reared up and latched onto Kara with a hiss. With unexpected strength, it pulled her closer, and then Kara felt a spasm of pain from her neck.

Then she began to feel very weak…

 **oOo**

"Guys, you want to see this," Winn called, running up to Alex and J'onn with a tablet in hand.

"Agent Schott," J'onn said by way of greeting, "What's the problem?"

"Okay, so, to familiarize myself with the database, I decided to look up some sci-fi icons to see if there were any real equivalents. I'm a geek, sue me. So just for shiggles, I looked up vampires, and got a hit."

He turned the tablet around, revealing a file.

"This file is apparently so old, the entirety is scanned paper documents, so I doubt a lot of people have ever seen it. Hemovores that came to Earth centuries ago, nowadays keep to themselves, any sightings slipping into myth and legend-"

"Fairly common with older races who come to Earth," J'onn said, "Sasquatch for example. What's your point?"

"Well see—wait, Bigfoot's real?"

"Winn, the point?" Alex pushed.

"Right, right. So, I was reading though it, and some of the characteristics look suspiciously like the guest we have in the med bay. And according to the file, really old school vampires were a lot more aggressive than the guys we have on Earth now."

Alex skimmed the information on the tablet before nodding.

"Right, I'll go to the med bay and strap down our guest, just in case."

Alex gave the tablet back and speed-walked to the med bay. Upon entering, she froze for a milli-second before instincts kicked in and she drew her gun.

"Get the hell away from her!" she screamed, firing three rounds into the back of the creature _with its teeth on her little sister's neck._

The vampire screeched and dropped Kara, then turned to Alex, looking more ticked off than hurt. But Alex fired a few more shots, one of which hit the creature in the neck and staggered it.

Then there was a blur of red light, and the vampire had been punched to the other side of the room.

The vampire quickly regained its wind, but upon seeing an angry Martian standing there, it decided that discretion was the better part of valor. It ran sideways, jumping out of the nearest window in a shatter of glass and escaping into the night.

With the danger gone, Alex rushed to Kara's side, suppressing her fear at the gush of blood on her sister's neck. A cursory inspection showed a bad wound.

"J'onn, help me get her to the sun lamps!"

The Martian complied before pressing gauze to the wounds in an effort to stem the bleeding. However, the second the lights were turned on, Kara began to scream and write in pain. Alex immediately turned the lights off, staring in shock at the curls of smoke rising from pinkened skin.

"What the hell? It hurts her now?"

 **oOo**

It took a while to get Kara stable, and then tests were run. What was found was extremely worrying.

Alex had taken a blood sample and looked at it under a microscope, finding some foreign bodies in Kara's blood. The foreign bodies were assimilating her cells, but in many cases, the process led to the cells being destroyed.

It was actually Winn who hit on the answer.

"Vampires burn in the sun, right? Their bodies can't take the light. Well, if Kara's turning into a vampire, how does that gel considering she's _powered_ by sunlight?"

"Great H'ronmeer," J'onn gasped, "Her body must be ripping itself apart."

"So what do we do?" Alex asking, taking note of Kara's elevated heart rate, "Those sedatives won't work for long, and I'm not about to watch my sister die!"

"I found some contact information in the vampire file," Winn said, "A specialist, maybe?"

"Make the call, and tell them it's a matter of life and death," J'onn ordered, and Winn left to do just that.

J'onn then joined Alex at Kara's bedside. The blonde was sleeping thanks to the sedatives, but she twitched and moaned at random times, her face a grimace.

"What if this doesn't work?" Alex asked, taking a cool cloth to her sister's sweaty head.

"It has to."

 **oOo**

By sheer luck, the contacts had been wrapping up a job in Oregon, and were able to rush south to National City.

Two hours later, two people arrived at DEO Headquarters and were swiftly brought to the med bay.

"Director…Jones, was it?" the man said, leaning forward to shake J'onn's hand, "My name is Adrian Tepes. This is my wife, Shanoa. I believe we're here to consult."

Adrian was a reedy man, but J'onn noted that his grip was strong. He wore a nice brown suit, looking more like a business man than an expert on vampires. His face, however, told a different story. His skin was pale, his eyes were sunken and dark, and his shocking white hair was pulled back into a long ponytail. He looked fairly haunted, but his mannerisms and posture didn't seem to reflect that. He spoke in a measured fashion, and an Eastern European accent could be heard if you strained your ears enough.

Shanoa was almost his opposite. Her curves and skin-tone were much healthier looking. Her long black hair shined in the light. Her steps were a touch jauntier, and she possessed a serene smile and light gray eyes. She wore a dress of deep blue, accentuated by a metal belt made of interlocking Celtic knots. Alex noted that when her sleeve shifted, she could see black lines on her arm, likely tattoos.

J'onn, Alex, and Winn explained what happened, and while Shanoa looked over Kara, Adrian asked more questions about Kara's physiology, "to better understand why her body is reacting the way it is."

After a while, Adrian and Shanoa stepped to the side and exchanged hushed tones.

"Right, we think we've got a solution," Shanoa said, a light Irish lit on her tongue.

"And?" asked Alex.

"Your friend Winslow's hypothesis was correct," Adrian began, "The vampire transformation leaves her vulnerable to sunlight, the same force that her body uses for power. She is at war with herself, and since neither force can be stopped, the only thing to do is add something that can resolve the conflict. I can augment her new vampiric nature with another bloodline, one more resistant to the sun's light."

"What do you mean augment with another bloodline?"

And then the eyes of their visitors glowed a menacing red, and fangs extended from their mouths.

Winn shrieked and fell backward in his chair. J'onn nearly morphed into his Martian form. Alex's hand went to her gun.

"There's no need for that," Shanoa said, gesturing toward the holstered weapon, "We're only here to help."

"How is turning my sister into a vampire supposed to help her?"

"There is no force on Heaven or Earth than can stop her transformation," Adrian intoned, "But if it continues unchecked, she will die. If she is to live, it has to be as a part of our bloodline. There is no other way."

The three agents looked at each other, then back at the vampires.

"This _will_ save her life," Shanoa said softly.

Alex took a sharp breath.

"Okay, do it."

The two vampires nodded and put their fangs and glow away. But instead of going over to Kara, they instead went to another table and began to draw on a pad of paper. A circle with several symbols formed, and the two muttered to each other.

"Mist of course, that's really fun," Shanoa said.

"Bat form, standard. Hearing?" asked Adrian.

"I think she has enough, but there might be a minor uptick regardless. How about some sorcery?"

"You just want another student."

"Guilty."

"What are you going on about?" asked Alex.

"Due to the way I'm doing this, one part turning and one part blood adoption, I can pick a few advanced traits to pass. A few will anyway, but this will ensure it," Adrian explained

"Before you ask, no, we can't lessen the thirst for blood. Only time and experience can do that," added Shanoa before turning back to her husband, "Hey, isn't that-"

"Yes."

"I wasn't aware that could be passed like this."

"It usually passes on its own, but I want to be sure. She's in for a rough time, anything we can do to lessen her pain is the right thing to do."

"What trait?" asked Winn.

"Later," Adrian said in a tone that brokered no argument.

They soon finished, and Shanoa waved a glowing hand over the completed circle. A match made of reddish light appeared above the paper. With a flick of her wrist, it enlarged and covered the area around Kara's bed.

"Glyph-based magic is my specialty," she explained as Adrian entered the circle, a dagger now in his hand.

"Because of course the vampires are magic," Winn snarked.

"Now, to be fair, the original vampires came from one magic rich planet to another…if a different type of magic."

Adrian cleared his throat for silence. With a growl, his fangs extended. He chanted in an ancient tongue as he cut open his hand. Blood pooled in his palm and he tipped it into Kara's mouth, never ceasing his chant. The room took on a chill as the circle glowed with haunting red light.

Finally, he stopped, and the circle flashed once before fading.

"It is done. We just need to wait as her body accepts the changes."

It actually already looked like it was working. Kara was no longer twitching, and her grimace seemed to have lessened a bit.

Since they had time, Adrian and Shanoa decided to give the three a crash course in vampire history.

"It seems prudent, considering," Shanoa said, gesturing toward Kara.

As the DEO files had stated, the original vampires were indeed aliens. They had come from a world low on sunlight, but rich in magic. The reasons for why some vampires had abandoned their world, or why they chose Earth, had been lost to time, but Earth had proven to be an interesting choice. While a number of vampire bloodlines will burn in the light of day, many had built up a resistance to it, with the Tepes bloodline being an extremely resistant example.

"She will likely have to watch how much sun she intakes, but otherwise, she should have few issues," Adrian said.

"Why are some vampires so resistant?" asked Alex.

"Evolution, sped up by magic," Shanoa said, "Earth's magical field is very different from the original planet's, so adaptations tend to have a skewed timescales. But it can be fairly random, which is why you have all those conflicting stories about vampire strengths and weaknesses."

"What's Kara in for?" asked Winn.

"Not much physical augmentation, she was already a level above average vampires. Maybe some hearing increase, I'm not sure. She can turn into mist or a bat. Weaknesses, I'd say she'd need to watch out for silver, but it will more likely be like a severe skin allergy and less like bursting into flames on contact, although I imagine she will feel burning sensations. I do. Garlic, that'll be trouble. Then there's magic. I'm guessing she was already vulnerable to it, that's how the vampire managed to bite her in the first place. That's probably not getting better, but the good news is, our bloodline is very gifted in magic. I'll be able to teach Kara everything she knows about how to protect herself."

"That's good," J'onn said, "What concerns me now is the vampire who started this. He got away."

"Indeed," Adrian said, "Vampires on Earth now are different thanks to time and environmental changes. The original strain, however, is very raw and unrefined. It will unlikely be able to peacefully exist in the modern day. Fantastic. I have enough issues with modern rouges."

"Maybe we'll get lucky and he accidentally fries himself in the sunlight," Winn said.

Everyone stared at him.

"Well, _someone_ has to keep a positive outlook."

"So, modern vampires?" J'onn asked.

"We tend to keep to ourselves, police ourselves, and try not to kill too many people," Adrian said, "Complete non-death is impossible, we are predators by nature, but we try to cover ourselves as best as possible. My wife and I go around to various vampire communities and trouble shoot. Help newbloods, prevent or cover up accidents, things like that. There is actually a small community here in National City."

"Really," Alex asks, eyebrows raised in surprised, "I had no idea."

"A testament to our ability to hide."

"Will you be able to help Kara adapt?"

"He can't, but I can," Shanoa said, "Adrian is a very important figure in vampire communities, and not just as a troubleshooter. Business stretches all over, so we tend to be on the move a lot. But I plan to stay. I can help the DEO learn more about vampires, and mentor our latest newblood, teach her everything she needs to know."

"Speaking of blood…"

"Ah, knew this was going to come up. Kara will be able to subsist on donated blood, but it isn't ideal. The equivalent of eating nothing but takeout and easy-cook meals. As a human body needs fresh food, so will she need fresh blood on occasion. And that means feeding from a living person."

Alex opened her mouth, but Adrian cut her off.

"I know you're going to offer, and that's fine. If she paces herself, she'll be able partake of your blood when she needs it. No more than donating to a blood drive. You will be fine, and she will get what she needs. However, the first feeding is always the hardest. She will require large amounts of fresh blood, and this will likely kill whoever she feeds off, a combination of need and new instincts. I doubt she would want her sister's death on her conscience."

Alex grimaced.

"I have a hard time thinking of Kara killing in cold blood," Winn said.

"She will not have much choice, I am afraid. But I have known many of these 'white knight' types. It will be easier if the feed is an unrepentant and despicable soul. Say, a rapist?"

"That seems to be the best solution to a bad problem," J'onn said, "Alright, let's find Kara some dinner."

But their next move was cut off by a blur of red and blue zooming out the door.

They all stood there, blinking stupidly before Winn spoke up.

"She heard the tail end of that, didn't she?"

"Most likely."

"Probably."

J'onn spit out a Martian curse.

"Kara…"

 **oOo**

"NONONONONO!"

"Kara-"

" _ **NO!"**_

"Kara, please come out."

"I won't do it, Alex. I won't be a monster!"

"Kara, if you don't, you'll die," Shanoa argued.

"Supers don't kill. Supers don't kill!"

Shanoa rubbed her eyes and looked over to Alex.

"Your sister is incredibly stubborn."

"Tell me about it."

Kara had been found swiftly. She had locked herself in a private cell and curled up in a ball, crying and screaming about being a monster. Alex and Shanoa had spent the past half hour trying to calm her down, but not only had Kara somehow broken the lock and thus sealed herself inside, she was refusing to talk to either of them. She just kept ranting about how she wouldn't do it, and how Supers didn't kill.

Adrian had left to find a rapist, and J'onn and Winn had gone to make a call.

"How will we get her out?" Shanoa asked.

"Winn can probably figure a way around whatever Kara did, or we can just have J'onn bust the door down if we need to. This isn't a particularly optimized cell."

"Then why lock herself in if she could get out? She's easily stronger than your Martian."

"It's probably more psychological. The DEO hunts and imprisons rouge aliens. The aliens who would hurt people-"

"Go in cells, I see now. She must have a low opinion of herself."

"She's just in shock."

"Let's see if we can't ease it," came a voice, and Superman entered the room.

"We thought he could help, so we made a call," J'onn said, entering the room with Winn at his heels.

"I'm up to speed. Kara…Kara, it's Clark. It's cousin Kal. I'm coming in."

Superman effortlessly ripped the door from its hinges and shuffled it to the side. But when he entered the cell, Kara screeched in terror.

"Stay back! If this could affect me, it can affect you!"

"Okay, I won't come any closer," he said, bending down and gouging a line in the floor, "I won't cross this line unless you want me to."

Kara just remained curled up in the corner, staring at everyone with fear in her eyes.

"Kara, I know what happened-"

"Then you know what they want me to do. I can't, I can't, I can't."

"If you don't, you'll die, cousin."

But Kara went right back to chanting 'Supers don't kill', rocking back and forth and clutching at her ears.

Clark frowned and sat down on the floor, taking a deep breath.

"Would you like to hear a story, Kara?"

Kara stopped rocking and looked at her cousin, confused.

"Long before your friend Mr. Allen's little incursion, I've known about the multiverse. A couple of years back, I was visited by a hero from another universe, someone calling herself Superwoman. She wanted my help. Her world was being ravaged by three Kryptonian criminals. She had tried to fight, but she was the lone hero of her Earth, and she couldn't fight all three of them.

"So, while these other versions of General Zod, Ursa, and Non ran roughshod over the world, Superwoman's best friend, their world's Lex Luthor, managed to create a trans-dimensional portal. She went through to find help, and found me. I wanted to gather some more manpower, but she insisted that there was no time, so off we went.

"But when we got back, it was already too late. Zod and his minions had effectively destroyed the planet. They had boiled away the oceans, devastated the atmosphere, and killed nearly all life. We got back just in time to see him kill the other Lex."

Everyone just stared at Clark. The devastation he was talking about, the scale…it was mindboggling.

"That's…that's evil," Kara breathed.

"Now, as you can imagine, Superwoman didn't take the death of her last friend well. She went ballistic, and actually managed to kill Non herself. The two of us attacked Zod and Ursa, and eventually, the two were defeated…but the wounds that Superwoman sustained in the fight ended up killing her. And besides that, the entire planet was effectively dead.

"There was no Phantom Zone projector, no leftover ruling body to judge them for their actions of absolute genocide. There was only a Kryptonite weapon…and me."

Kara stared at him for the longest time.

"You…you mean you…"

"God have mercy on their souls," he whispered.

"No one else could have done it," J'onn said.

"You did what you had to with an impossible choice," Shanoa agreed, "I have walked the Earth for over two hundred years, and I've learned that sometimes, you have to work with the hand you're dealt, even if it is distasteful to do so."

Kara didn't answer. She just kept crying.

Adrian arrived a few minute later, carrying an unconscious body.

"I found this slime right about to do the deed."

"Hold on a minute," J'onn said, laying a hand on the man's head.

J'onn's eyes glowed for a minute, and when they stopped, he shuddered.

"It's not his first offense. He enjoys it even, and is good at covering his tracks. His mind is a sewer."

"So good riddance to bad rubbish, then," Adrian said, carrying the body into the cell and placing it on the floor.

Kara stared at it for the longest time.

"Kara," Alex said, "No one here will think any less of you for this."

Kara stared at the unconscious man some more before speaking in a small voice.

"Can we blindfold him? I don't want to see his eyes."

Adrian looked like he wanted to say something, but Clark shot him a glare and went over to the man, tearing off some of his shirt and wrapping it around his eyes.

Kara finally stood up and walked forward, picking up the body with little effort. She had been hearing it for a while. Heartbeats. The whooshing of blood through veins. She had been feeling a pull, and now it was stronger than ever.

Too strong to keep ignoring.

The call reached a crescendo, and Kara's eyes glowed a menacing red. Fangs erupted from her mouth, and with a wolf-like growl, she bit down.

The blood hitting her tongue tasted strange, like cigar smoke, but the rush if it into her belly felt _so good._ She began to drink greedily, soon forgetting the taste and relishing the warm liquid flowing into her mouth and down to her stomach.

She drank, and drank, and drank, until the flow reduced to a trickle. Soon, she knew, there was nothing left. The source had run dry.

Her whole body relaxed, and she dropped the bloodless corpse to the ground, panting heavily. The thump it made hitting the ground timed perfectly with the red leaving her eyes.

And as the fangs retracted into her mouth, the red in her eyes was soon replaced by tears.

"Oh Rao…"

That was all the excuse Alex needed to rush in and hug her bawling sister. Clark swiftly joined, wrapping his cape around the both of them.

"You did what you had to," he whispered to her, "You did what you had to."

"I have you, Kara," Alex whispered, "Your sister's got you. You're not alone. I've got you."

Kara just continued to cry, wailing in Kryptonian.

" _Rao, forgive me for what I have done…"_


	2. Start to Adjust

_I didn't want to say anything at the end last time, because I wanted the last scene to sink in, but that story Superman told? Yeah, that actually happened. It's part of the origin of the Matrix Supergirl, a character created in '88 to get around the 'Superman is the only Kryptonian' edict going on at the time. The character had many adventures, and even fought Doomsday, before merging with a human and creating the Linda Danvers version of Supergirl (as written by comic legend Peter David). Killing Zod, meanwhile, was portrayed as extreme extenuating circumstances, like when Batman later picked up a gun during Final Crisis to shoot Darkseid with._

 _Castlevania fans might recognize the story told by Shanoa here as similar to the story of 'Order of Ecclesia', but expanded for what happened next. Those same fans have probably already figured out who Adrian is based on, but let's let other people have the fun of discovering, shall we?_

 _(Even though it's kind of obvious…)_

* * *

 **Supergirl: Blood Ties**

Chapter 2

Start to Adjust

Kara sat in the cell, her cape wrapped around her. She had barely moved from her position since her first feeding.

Both Alex and Clark had tried to get her to leave the cell, but she had refused, telling them to leave her alone. When Alex had brought a bag of donated blood, Kara had pointedly ignored her. Alex had left the bag, and Kara later threw it out of the cell so she didn't have to see it.

Clark had to head back to Metropolis after the first day, but before he left, he entered the cell with a small box.

"So…I think we can assume that your DNA profile has changed slightly. Before I go, I want to get a blood sample so I can update the Fortress records. The last thing we need is Kelex making a mistake and attacking you."

Kara was silent, but she did hold out her arm and roll her sleeve up.

Clark opened the box and a dim green glow emerged from it.

"Not a lot here, but it will give us a blood draw."

Carefully avoiding touching the small shard of Kryptonite, Clark extracted a needle and a stoppered test tube from the box. He then carefully found a vein, drew some blood, and put it in the tube. He didn't bother with a bandage, just flipped the box lid closed to cut off the radiation. Kara watched the puncture heal impassively as Clark gathered his stuff.

The two shared an awkward silence before Clark spoke up again.

"If you ever want to talk, about anything…I'm just a call away, you know that. Seriously, any time."

"I know, Kal. I just…need to be alone right now."

He gave a soft sigh and started to leave. But before he left the room, he turned back.

"No one _needs_ to be alone, Kara."

Kara pondered the words now, a day after the conversation.

A knock on the wall interrupted her thoughts, and she looked up to see Shanoa. Kara wasn't sure what to make of the elder vampire. On the one hand, she seemed nice enough, and Alex had told her that she and her husband had saved Kara's life.

On the other hand, _vampire._ Kara was still understandably wary of the subject.

"Good morning," Shanoa said, "I brought you breakfast."

She wiggled a blood bag in Kara's direction. Kara stiffened and turned away.

"Not hungry."

"You haven't had a thing in two days. I sincerely doubt that."

Kara just stared at the wall.

Shanoa sighed and sat down next to Kara, placing the bag next to her and on her other side. Silence reigned before Shanoa spoke again.

"I hunted vampires, once."

Kara turned and looked at her questioningly.

"Back when I was human, I was part of an order that dealt with the monsters and minions of Dracula. Yes, that Dracula. My story is a long one, but in the end, I had gathered three powerful mystical seals, the Dominus. I had been told by my order that combining them would grant enough power to defeat the dread vampire lord. But it was a lie. The Dominus was a copy of Dracula's power. Using it was deadly, and what are the odds that it would actually kill him?"

"So what happened?"

"Well, I did end up beating him, but I nearly died in the attempt. After that, I decided to do two things. One, erase all records of the order, because apparently, they knew what the cursed seals really were, and I hadn't been the first person that they had tried to train to use them. Take a wild guess what happened to the others. Two, make sure the Dominus could never be used again. I met Adrian shortly into my journey to hide the pieces of the Dominus at the four corners of the world. He helped me. What were the odds? A hunter of vampires and a vampire lord, working together? But there we were. We spent years hiding the pieces, splitting three into more as was necessary.

"And when the journey was ended, when the final piece was secreted away, deep in the Appalachian Mountains, we just sat there, looking at the moon and stars. Finally, he asked me if I had ever been to Philadelphia. And we went. We saw the sights, and then we went to New York. Then we sailed across the sea, and I visited my homeland of Ireland for the first time in years. And then we toured the rest of Europe, then still eastward, to China. And then he asked me to marry him.

"And in answer, I asked him to turn me."

Kara stared at her, stunned.

"You…you _asked_ for this?"

"I did. There's a moral to this story. Living off the blood of others does not exclude a kind heart. You can still be Supergirl. You can still be Kara Danvers. You just…have a few other things to take into account. This isn't an end for you. It can be a beginning. I can show you, teach you how to live with this new reality. For starters, would you like to learn how to turn into a cloud of mist?"

"I can do that now?"

"And more…"

She then picked the bag back up and tossed it into Kara's lap.

"But first, drink. You haven't had anything in days. That's not healthy for a newblood."

Kara was about to argue, but then her stomach rumbled loudly. Shanoa looked at her expectantly. Kara groaned loudly and bit the bullet.

And she hated to admit it, but after finishing the bag, she did feel a little better.

The two spent the next few hours practicing. Kara took to mist extremely quickly, and Shanoa soon moved on to a few beginner magic exercises. Kara was amazed that she could perform magic, and expressed interest in learning more.

"And I would be glad to teach you," Shanoa said, "It will be interesting to see what forms your magical potential will take. After all, there are many branches and types of magic. Perhaps my glyphs would be useful for you."

"Sure you aren't just projecting?" Kara asked with a small smile.

"Perhaps a little. I think we're done for now, _mo mhac léinn_. You need a bath. You stink."

Kara grimaced a bit, realizing that Shanoa was right. Then something caught her curiosity.

"Wait," she called to the leaving vampire, "Mo what?"

" _Mo mhac léinn._ It's Irish, for 'my student'."

 **oOo**

Kara quickly showered at the DEO gym, making sure she was alone first. She also gave her suit a super-speed wash. She tried to get everything done quickly. She always felt uncomfortable when it wasn't her own bathroom she was using. It was why she didn't belong to a gym, even just for swimming. Well, that and fear of slipping with her strength, but that went without saying.

As she exited the room, she ran into an excited-looking Alex.

"Guess who just showed up in National City, nearly got killed, and now wants to meet us?"

"Hello, Alex. I'm doing a little better, thanks."

Alex sighed, "Sorry, I know you're having trouble."

"Well, I had a long talk with Shanoa. I'm not at a hundred percent, but I'm starting to get back up."

"Glad to hear it," Alex replied, lightly hugging her sister, "But meanwhile, we're keeping the President waiting in the lobby."

"We're keeping the who in the what now?"

 **oOo**

"I feel like if Supergirl had been there, I would have been in much less danger. Where was she?"

"There was an incident several days ago," J'onn stated, "It left a mark. She's just adjusting. I'd say more, but that'd be a breach of privacy."

President Marsdin's face took on a sympathetic look.

"Oh. Shame. I was hoping to meet her. How is she?"

J'onn just grimaced.

"It's looking to be a long road to recovery."

"Well, if I don't see her, give her my best. Now, our other piece of business."

"Your Alien Amnesty Act," J'onn said with a grimace.

"Fret not, the DEO isn't going out of business. The mission statement is just changing, going from a more predatory body to a policing one."

J'onn didn't respond, and President Marsdin looked at him squarely.

"You don't approve, Director?"

"No, I agree with the act of policing aliens. I just don't like the context. With all due respect, Madam President, there are aliens out there, killers who wouldn't understand the very concept of the rights you're offering them. Evil creatures who could take advantage of your goodwill."

"I imagine the very same thing was once said about you, J'onn J'onzz," she countered, "But someone gave you the benefit of the doubt. Isn't it time we paid that forward? I understand your concerns, and I know that there will always be danger, but the world is changing, and we must change with it. I can think of no better time than the present to extend our hand in friendship."

"Even if that hand might get bitten off?"

"One has to have hope."

"What if it's false hope?"

She scoffed lightly.

"It's hope, J'onn. How can it be false?"

"Oh Rao, that is so cool. That was a legit quote. People are going to quote that."

They turned and saw Supergirl staring in awe from an upper walkway. When she realized she had been spotted, she looked stricken.

"Um…hi?"

The President merely smiled and motioned for her to come down. Supergirl softly floated over the railing and touched down before them, wringing her hands.

"I didn't mean to eavesdrop…I just…I think you're so cool, but I didn't want…I didn't feel up to…I'm sorry, I'm not making much sense."

"Relax," the President said, "You look like you got caught with your hand in the cookie jar."

Supergirl took a deep breath and released it slowly.

"Sorry…it's just been a rough couple of days."

"And I'm guessing you don't want to talk about the specifics."

"Please no."

The older woman didn't flinch at the sudden sharpness of the reply, she just placed a hand on Supergirl's shoulder.

"I don't know what happened, and it's clear you don't want me to know, but I want you to know that you can't let it define you. You can't live in fear."

Supergirl nodded.

"Yeah. That's a work in progress right now."

"With life, what isn't?"

Supergirl chuckled grimly before a serious look came to her face.

"So what's this I hear about you nearly getting killed?"

"Trying to get back on the horse already?" President Marsdin smiled, "I'm certainly not going to begrudge a little justice."

The President briefly went over the details of the attack, and J'onn stated that Agent Danvers had conducted the forensics on the site.

"So talk to Alex for more details, got it, thanks."

Supergirl turned to go, but stopped.

"It was nice meeting you, Ma'am."

"Likewise, Supergirl. Now, I believe we both have jobs to do, horses to get back on."

"Ironically, I've never gone horseback riding in my life," Supergirl laughed as she walked away, "They've never liked me."

 **oOo**

Alex led the strike team with speed. Winn had finally detected the medical bracelet from their previously comatose friend, and Alex knew she had to move fast.

She didn't expect Shanoa to accompany her, but given what they were dealing with, the help didn't go unappreciated.

"I smell something," Shanoa said as the team breached the warehouse.

"What?" asked Alex.

"Burning…"

Alex shook off her next question and shouldered her weapon.

"We'll see in a minute. Ready?"

A slim black knife appeared in Shanoa's hand, which she raised, ready to throw.

The team stormed in, and converged on movement.

"Hands where I can see them!" Alex shouted.

Into the light stepped a familiar face, the police detective Alex had met at the scene of the attempted assassination.

"Fancy firepower for a Fed," Detective Sawyer quipped, nodding to the veritable bazooka Alex was carrying.

Alex groaned softly and ordered the rest of the team to sweep the warehouse, relaxing her weapon.

"If you're looking for something strange, don't bother. He's a few feet behind me."

Shanoa swiftly walked forward and peered past the detective.

"Ashes to ashes," she sighed.

Alex came forward and saw the burnt remains of a corpse.

"Shanoa?"

"Definitely our boy," the vampire replied, kneeling down for a closer examination, "Although from the look of it, not all the burns are from his little sun allergy."

"I was tracking the President's assassin when I came across Crispy," Sawyer explained, "You know him? I heard rumors of a black ops anti-alien strike team before. Sounded like the boogeyman, but here we are. DEO, right?"

"You're smarter than you look," Alex replied.

"I'm a detective, Danvers. I detect. I ask again, you know this husk?"

"If you must know, he attacked one of our personnel before escaping. We were hoping he had succumbed to his weakness to UV radiation, but it looks like something else got to him. At the very least, we can close that part of the case."

"Like I said before, the President's would-be assassin was either Kryptonian or Infernian, and I was leaning towards the latter. Too bad your boy here wasn't fireproof. Might have helped."

"Well, sunlight allergy, so in the long run, pro-"

And then Alex stopped.

"Danvers? Hey, you okay?" Detective Sawyer asked.

"Fine," Alex replied, snapping back to the present with a shake of her head, "Just had an idea for something. Unrelated to this, mind you, but…never mind, I need to call for a cleanup…and run something by someone…"

"Well, when you're done with that, I might have something else for you, concerning the assassin. Want to see how local cops deal with aliens?"

Alex gave her a confused look, then peered over to Shanoa.

"You go ahead, Alex," Shanoa replied, "This part's my jurisdiction."

 **oOo**

"So, aside from finding an alien bar that I totally want to check out, how was it?" Kara asked.

"Well, Detective Sawyer…excuse me, Maggie, introduced me to one of her regular pigeons," Alex said, closing the small fridge in the med bay, "He confirmed that a few nights ago, an Infernian female got a little too drunk and started bad-mouthing the President. It's not much, but at least it's a description. Here."

Kara reluctantly took the blood bag and sipped some of its contents.

"I least I can rest easier knowing the vampire who did this to me won't hurt anyone else."

"Time of death appears to be not too long after he escaped here," Alex nodded, "But back to the business at hand…"

"Yeah, when you called you said you had an idea?"

"Yeah, might need to clear it with a few people, but I was thinking…"

 **oOo**

"Can't believe she's going ahead with this, considering the Infernian is still out there," came a voice from behind Alex, and she turned to see Maggie Sawyer.

"What can I say, she has a will of iron," Alex replied, "At the very least, we have a plan."

"I was casing the area, there's security, but not enough to stop a rampaging fire-wielder," Maggie argued, "I don't even see Supergirl playing eye-in-the-sky."

"We've got plain-clothes agents in the crowd, and Supergirl is right where she needs to be," Alex said, "Now relax. This is hardly the first time we've done this sort of thing."

"But it kind of looks like you want to—"

And then realization dawned on Maggie's face.

"It's a trap," she whispered.

"And that's a Star Wars quote. Fitting," Alex answered, a smug grin on her face.

Further conversation was halted by President Marsdin's appearance and the applause it entailed.

"My fellow Americans," she began, "Over a century ago, this nation erected a monument in New York harbor. A Statue of Liberty. That statue…"

Alex stopped fully listening, spotting a shock of red hair in the crowd.

"Red hair, three o-clock from my position," she muttered, "Can we confirm?"

"I have eyes on—no wait, I don't think that's her," came the reply from the almost invisible earpiece she was wearing.

"It's not," came Kara's whispered addition, "X-ray confirms. Keep looking. How about this speech though?"

A few grunts and murmurs of agreement.

"Cut the chatter, focus people," Alex ordered.

"The Statue of Liberty will stand for aliens too!" the President finished to excited applause, "And now, if someone would just hand me a pen?"

A brown-haired woman rose from her seat behind the President and gave her one. President Marsdin returned the smile and turned back to the document on the podium.

"History," she intoned.

Suddenly, the brown-haired woman yanked the President back, spinning around to put herself between the older woman and the crowd. A large fireball completed it journey and crashed into the woman's back.

Her clothing and wig burned away, revealing red, blue, and blonde.

"Surprise, sucker!"

Supergirl shot a burst of heat vision towards the park's fountain where the fireball had come from. The red-haired woman, the Infernian, dodged.

The crowd scattered, but several people ran towards the alien, who was lighting her hands up with fire.

"Put them out or I put you out!" Maggie shouted, her gun held steady, but the Infernian just snarled and shot a gout of flame at the detective, who quickly ducked.

"You people! You really think you can stop me?"

She spun about, encircling herself in fire to use as cover, but a powerful gust snuffed it out, and Supergirl landed a few feet away.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Oh look, the President's pet alien," the woman sneered, "You're a traitor to your people, you know."

"It's not us against them."

"Ha! You say that, but we all know what this is really about. All this, it's about voluntarily revealing ourselves like fools! Who we are, where we live, what we can do! "Amnesty" is just a mask to disguise registration."

"That's a cynical outlook."

"Doesn't mean it's not right."

"You know, you really should stop and read these things," Supergirl said, shaking her head, "It's amazing how much trouble could be avoided if people did the proper research."

"What's that supposed to mean?" the Infernian snapped back, the flames on her arms glowing bright with her anger.

"I means I'm getting déjà vu concerning the last election cycle. All sorts of opinions flying around, but so few actually supported by facts. I've read the Alien Amnesty Act. It is exactly what it looks like, the formal offer of full citizenship to extraterrestrials. It practically expands the ethnicity portion of applications. And nowhere does it say anything about revealing special abilities. You only have to be honest about that to your doctor."

"Bullshit!" she shouted, throwing fire every which way in an attempt to push back the DEO agents, "I've been to half a dozen planets just like this one, you want to know what they have in common? The locals lock away _anything_ they think is different. Out of prejudice or fear, it happens. There's a reason that you hide your identity, Supergirl. Humans can't be trusted!"

Then Supergirl shot through the flames and body-checked her into the fountain.

"It's criminals like you who can't be trusted."

The Infernian got to her feet, growling. A bullet shot by her head, and she turned to see Maggie.

"I've just the distraction, by the way."

And then electricity shot through the alien, amplified by the water covering her.

"And she's out," Alex said, lowering her high-powered taser gun as the alien fell.

"You guys are fun," Maggie said with a smile, "Is it always like this?"

"No, sometimes it gets really strange," Supergirl laughed lightly.

 **oOo**

"Heck of a horse ride."

Kara set her takeout on the island, smiling widely. It was good to be home. And it was good to be Supergirl again.

"Alien bad guy defeated, innocents saved, and I got to talk with the President. I need more days like this," she said, grinning.

And then she sat down to eat, relishing the taste of her favorite restaurant's potstickers. As she pondered what to do about Cat Co, knowing she's need an excuse despite James saying he'd cover for her, she slowly realized something.

She was getting full.

"That can't be right," she muttered, looking over her order. It was no smaller an amount than usual, and there was still half of her food left. But she didn't feel hungry anymore.

What was wrong?

And then a thought came to her.

"No, no, no…"

She shoveled down another potsticker, and then another. She wolfed down three more, not bothering to take her time and enjoy them like she had before. She was halfway through chewing the fifth when her stomach lurched, protesting the influx.

She felt something rise up, and she hurried to the bathroom, kneeling before the toilet just in time to expel the last few potstickers she had eaten.

As she stared at the squishy remains of her meal, she was forced to admit the reason for her different appetite.

After all, a great change had happened in her body recently. A great change in everything had happened recently.

" _Rao, give me strength_ ," she muttered in her mother tongue, " _Shine your light on me, so that I might find my way out of this darkness._ "

Kara then leaned against the bathroom wall and cried.

" _Please Rao. Guide me._ "


	3. Back to Cat Co

_And now, the more mundane half of the 'Welcome to Earth' episode._

 _Yes, people, this_ **is** _the part where Lena shows up. You can stop asking. I can hear you thinking about it._

 _And as for the metaphor that I'm referencing at the beginning with Kara's little snap…think about vampires in general for a minute. They attack people and steal from them something precious._

 _Yeah._

 _Don't worry, I offset it with some fluff and a surprise guest._

* * *

 **Supergirl: Blood Ties**

Chapter 3

Back to Cat Co

Kara took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

She'd had a bit of a breakdown last night, and another, smaller one this morning, but she needed to do this. If she didn't do it now, she never would, and then where would she be?

The elevator dinged and she stepped out slowly, taking in the sights and sounds of Cat Co.

"Hey, Kara's back!"

The shout made her jump a bit, and soon, she was surrounded by eager coworkers.

"We were worried, Danvers."

"Where you been, girl?"

"You okay, Kara?"

The outpouring of support caused her heart to swell. Kara had worked for Cat Co for years, and had become something of a fixture. Of course they had been worried about her sudden disappearance.

Kara felt a smile come to her face. Maybe this wouldn't be so—

" _DANVERS!"_

Oh, right. The new boss.

Snapper Carr stomped forward, shoving his way into the crowd.

"And just where have you been?"

Kara opened her mouth to respond, but Snapper just barreled forward.

"No call, no e-mail. Just Olsen's word that you hadn't jumped ship. I thought you were more professional than this. Cat Grant raved about your loyalty, but I haven't seen any."

"I-"

"So do you have an explanation? A good reason why I should keep you around?"

"I-"

"Oh wait, I don't give a rat's ass about your excuses. If you can't be professional, what are you doing here?"

"But I-"

"Should have known better than to take Cat Grant at her word. Woman's flighty, no surprise her little friend is too."

"Now wait a-"

"Forget it, Ponytail. I don't have time for this. I have serious events to concern myself w-"

" _I was attacked!_ "

Snapper stopped dead, and so did everything else. A pen hit the ground about two yards away, and its impact could be heard.

"That serious enough for you, Snapper?" Kara growled, "I was attacked, several nights ago. Nothing happened, I got away, but I've been living in this city for years. YEARS. And that was the first time, _the first time_ , I've ever felt vulnerable. None of the other insanity that's plagued National City has made me feel like that! But that night, that man…I'm sorry, but I needed some time to adjust after my reality got turned on its head!"

Kara panted heavily from the exertion. Everyone just stared at her. Finally, the still wide-eyed Snapper spoke, calmly and evenly.

"Lena Luthor and L-Corp. I want her opinion on the Alien Amnesty Act and the attacks on the President. Anything else you can get from her is great, but those are the main things."

And then he turned and started to walk away. Kara took a cleansing breath and called after him.

"Sorry for yelling."

"For what you were hit with, you get a free pass. Don't do it again," came the answer.

The crowd slowly dispersed, people giving her quiet apologies and reassurances. James Olsen, who had been in the back of the crowd, stepped forward.

"Kara-"

"James, I know what you're going to say, but I'm fine now. Still a little shaken, but I just need time. And I don't want to talk about it."

"You're not hurt, are you?"

"Not…not like that. I just need time. Don't worry about me."

"Too late."

Kara touched his arm lightly.

"I'm fine for now. I just need to get back on the horse."

"If you're sure…"

"If I don't, I'll go out of my mind."

James smiled wanly and patted her on the shoulder before excusing himself. Kara watched him go. At her insistence, he hadn't been told about her vampirism, just that she'd taken a hit and needed a couple days to recover. But she knew that he'd have to be told the whole story eventually.

 **oOo**

Lena looked happy to see Kara. Her smile was wide, and her heartbeat was excited.

Kara wasn't entirely sure why she had picked up on Lena's heartbeat. She didn't usually pick up heartbeats unless she specifically listened for them. Come to think of it, there was something…different about Lena today, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

She didn't get it. She'd met Lena several days ago, idly noting how pretty she was. What was going on today that made that fact seem…different?

"If you have a parking ticket, I can have it validated."

"No, that's okay, I flew here…on a bus."

Kara internally cursed her slip. She swore, this hardly ever happened. Lena was smiling at her, looking mildly amused, and it kept messing with Kara's head. It was a pretty smile…

' _NO, focus!_ ' she thought _, 'Professional time.'_

The interview started well. Lena made it clear that she was perfectly fine with aliens living among them, unlike her brother, although she was in favor of certain precautions being taken. Kara relaxed after her slip, really getting into the interviewing process.

Then Lena pulled a device from a small safe, and Kara got an uneasy feeling.

"What's that?" Kara asked.

"It's an alien detection device that allows humans to find out who among them is not truly one of them."

Kara felt a shiver run down her spine as she looked at the slim machine.

"It's not market ready yet," Lena continued, "We're still developing the prototype, but we aim to have this device in every store in every town, all across America."

"How's it work?" Kara asked, trying to keep trepidation out of her voice.

"It's just a simple skin test. Here, look."

Lena placed a thumb on part of the device. It beeped and the area underneath her thumb glowed green.

"That's a negative response, see? You try."

Lena held out the device, but Kara leaned back a bit.

"Are you sure about that thing? Won't a device like this…isn't it a little extreme? Doesn't it go against the idea of the Alien Amnesty Act?

"What do you mean?"

"Well, the act extends the citizenship and the rights therein to aliens. And doesn't that mean freedom? From persecution or oppression? America's always been a country full of immigrants, after all."

"It's also always been a country of humans."

"And you don't think this device would force aliens back into the shadows?"

"If aliens want to be citizens, that's now their right. But if humans want to know which of their fellow citizens aren't actually one of them, then that's their right too."

"Okay, let me put it this way," Kara said, "Let's say I'm an alien. I've spent a large chunk of my life hiding that fact. It's all about fitting in, trying not to let it show. It probably weighs on me, having to lie and repress, but there's little choice. I'm not what humans consider normal, but I have to be. It's the only way I can have a semblance of a life on a planet not my own. All of the sudden, one of those things goes off. How quickly do you think my life starts crashing down once that happens?"

Lena blinked.

"I…didn't think of that."

"Lena, I know you mean well, but humanity as a whole has a bad history when confronted with things that are different. It's kind of a good idea for a lot of aliens to hide like they have been. It would be a matter of survival for them, not anything malevolent."

"And the ones that are malevolent?"

An image shot into Kara's mind. Fangs. She resisted the urge to rub her neck where she had been bitten. The area had healed without a scar, but she felt a twinge there sometimes. It was psychosomatic, she knew, but still…

"I can admit, there are things hiding in the dark. Bad things. But how bright should the spotlight be? What if, in trying to shine that light to ward off the monsters, we hurt the innocent people also in the dark?"

"That's…a valid point," Lena said slowly.

She turned, looking out the window over the city. She left the device on the desk, and Kara lowered her glasses.

"I guess I'm just…wary. I'm all for equality, but I want to be able to protect myself. And I want to make good in the world, make up for my family's past. Is that wrong?"

"Not especially," Kara replied, blinking heavily. She'd zapped the device with her heat vision, but for some reason, her eyes stung.

"Are you okay?" Lena asked, having turned to see Kara rubbing her eyes.

"Yeah, just a sudden irritation. Oh, maybe it's like gun rights?"

"Your eyes?"

"No, our conversation. I mean, everyone has the right to own a gun, but not everyone is as responsible, and that's the issue."

"How do you deal with the irresponsible ones without infringing on everyone as a whole?" Lena mused, "Not a bad analogy. I suppose the first thing is to make sure the people who can enforce any rules are both equipped and responsible enough to use the equipment. Maybe start there with alien detection technology. Police first. Maybe hospitals, to make sure they can treat a patient accordingly…"

Lena trailed off, muttering to herself. Kara cleared her throat.

"Oh, sorry," Lena said, "That train of thought got away from me."

"Maybe you can get it back later? It didn't sound too bad."

"Perhaps. Regardless, my next meeting is soon, and while I hate to rush you…"

"That's okay, I think I got everything I needed," Kara replied, tucking her notebook away, "Thanks again, Lena."

"Wait, before you go…"

Lena picked up the device and held it out. Kara took a breath and hesitantly touched her thumb to the pad.

The device promptly went nuts, blinking between red and green and squawking like a dying parakeet before sputtering out completely.

"Is…that supposed to happen?" Kara asked.

Lena grumbled as she pried open the cover. The innards let out puffs of smoke as she inspected them.

"It seems to have shorted. Badly, too. The interior is burned. Odd. It was working fine a minute ago."

"Maybe it wasn't quite ready?"

"Maybe," Lena shrugged, "I suppose these things happen. It is just a prototype. Kara, if you don't mind keeping this last bit to yourself…"

"My lips are sealed."

"It's your pen I'm worried about," Lena replied lightly before sticking her hand out, "Good luck with that article."

"Good luck with your tech," Kara replied, returning the offered handshake.

As Kara walked off, she pondered. Pondered about the almost electric pulse that shot up her arm during the handshake. Pondered the roar of her heartbeat in her ears. Pondered the fluttering feeling in her stomach.

She felt warmer, for some reason…

She shook it off. She was reading too much into it.

 **oOo**

Snapper grumbled as he read Kara's rough draft, his red pen tapping against the desk.

"Reads a little biased, Danvers," he grunted, "Figured you were a bleeding heart. You seriously think this tech would be that bad?"

"You're only halfway through the article, Chief, keep reading," Kara replied.

After a moment, Snapper made a noise of realization.

"Oh, I see where you're going with this. But you're sure this is the right direction? Still comes off a little biased, and that's not something a reporter can be."

"That's how the interview went. She made her explanations, I asked questions she didn't really have answers for, and she admitted to seeing value in that point of view. This is what happened. This is truth. And if you don't like it, maybe you should have sent someone else."

Snapper stared at her for a long time before grunting, "Whatever happened to you has given you some spine, Danvers."

"Can we please not go there?"

"Fair enough."

Snapper spent another minute with the article before handing it back to Kara with the order to make the marked corrections.

"Couple of places you need to reword so it doesn't come off so harsh. And you've got to work on your spelling."

"My old programs had the spell-checks the way I wanted them, but the last update wiped most of my preferences. Getting it back to where it was is a work in progress."

"Once again, fair enough."

Kara dashed off back to her office. While she fully intended to hang around the bullpen as much as possible, the office Cat had given to her for her years of service and loyalty was still hers. She liked the privacy it gave, and it was close to a stairwell she could use for quick exits. She quickly made the corrections and fired off the document to Snapper in an email.

As she did this, she noticed a message from personnel. Specifically, from Celeste Harker, the head of personnel herself.

"A meeting?" she muttered, reading through the e-mail.

Taking a brief look at the clock, she decided to get it out of the way and head on down.

 **oOo**

Celeste was a frail-looking black woman, but had eyes that could pierce your soul. Despite this, Kara knew that she was a kind person, and so relaxed a little.

Her relaxation lasted until Celeste closed the door to her office, rendering the conversation private.

"That attacked story will give you some breathing room, but we still need to talk."

"Is this the part where you try to recommend a councilor?"

"Ain't no councilor that can deal with what you went through, sadly. But there are others you can talk to."

Celeste opened a minifridge near her desk, reached into the back, and pulled out a dark red object, which she put on the table and slid over to Kara.

Kara's breath hitched. It was a small blood bag.

"I like to keep snacks. Helps get through rough days."

Kara stared at her, eyes wide.

"You're-"

Fangs popped into view as Celeste smiled lightly.

"Seven years this October. And you're a newblood. Don't make excuses, I could smell it. The fact that you can't smell me back must mean you're really green."

Kara started to shudder a bit. Celeste retracted her fangs and pushed the blood bag closer.

"Breathe, Kara. And take a drink, I'll calm your nerves."

Kara did so slowly, sipping lightly from the tube of the bag.

"Yes, I'm pretty new. A couple of days, really."

"And you're not locked in your apartment, trying to hold yourself together? Damn, girl. You must be made of steel."

"I'm…still adjusting. But if I didn't at least pretend everything was still normal, I'd go insane."

"Well honey, if you need to talk, my door's open. Us bloodsuckers have to stick together."

Kara nodded, still nursing her blood.

"If you don't mind me asking, how did you…you know?"

Celeste hummed before answering, "It was a rouge. They don't happen often, other vamps tend to head them off at the pass, because they can cause a lot of unneeded trouble. But he was high on bloodlust and nutty as a fruitcake. Then this other vampire, Daenerys, came out of nowhere and killed him. I was dying, but she saved my life. Helped me put myself back together after my turning."

"Does anyone else know?"

"I don't have a lot of contact with my family," Celeste said, "They turned my brother out for being gay, and I went with him, sickened. We're still pretty close, I even stood by him at his wedding, and he and his husband are my donors when I need something…fresh."

Kara stopped drinking.

"Still bothers you, huh? Keep a grip on that conscience. It's the only thing standing between you and bloodlust. And you best find a donor. Someone you're close to. They can give you warm blood when you really need it."

"What if…what if I hurt them?"

"If you're that close to them, it won't be a problem. You'll recognize, deep down, that they're like family, and you'll be more likely to pull back after a few sips."

Kara breathed a sigh of relief, saying, "Thanks. Alex, my sister, she'll probably offer at some point. I was worried I wouldn't be able to control myself."

"You have any problems with sunlight?" Celeste asked.

"No, my…I guess the word is bloodline…it's pretty solar-resistant."

"Lucky. Daenerys' was only moderate in regards to that. I get by with long sleeves, a broad hat, and routes that have plenty of shadows, but a particularly sunny day is still exhausting. If anyone asks, I just say I've got sensitive skin. Since Miss Grant gave me an office with no windows, people buy it. Speaking of Cat Grant…"

The smile on Celeste's face made Kara slurp down the last quarter of her blood out of sheer nerves.

"What about her?"

"She knows."

"She what?"

"So, shortly after I came back to work, she somehow noticed that I was wincing every time I passed by a window. She took me to an empty office and asked flat out what the problem was. And somehow, despite my excuses, she had me pegged as a vampire. Frighteningly perceptive that one."

"I'm aware," Kara said, nervously adjusting her glasses.

"Anyway, it's apparently not the first time she's had a vampire employee, and I was able to get some secret accommodations. It helped that I was already being groomed to take over as head of personnel, so no one looked sideways when I got a private office. Had to be careful with the minifridge, but blood bags can easily be stuffed in a lunch cooler for transport. I keep them hidden behind sodas and some Tupperware containers full of fruit, spread some rumors about a digestive disorder that makes me have to snack a couple times during the day, store a secret trash can for used bags behind the filing cabinets, and no one's the wiser. As for you, I just need to email her, tell her it's a Code Crimson, and we'll go from there. Don't worry about hacks, I use an encrypted server. That hack last year didn't so much as touch the personnel files."

"You're sure?"

"The two of us will be the souls of discretion. Not even Olsen will hear of it."

They conversed a bit more before Kara left.

"That went better than I thought it would," she muttered.

 **oOo**

Kara felt…not completely okay, but a bit better about herself. Since her meeting with Celeste yesterday, the other vampire had given her a list of tricks that Kara could use to make her life easier. Between her and Shanoa, Kara felt like she didn't have to go through her vampirism alone. Of course, other people were helpful. Alex was supportive as always. J'onn gathered a bunch of DEO agents who knew Kara and they had a mini-blood drive, a precursor to a planned bank to keep her fed. And Winn researched anything on vampires that he thought would help. At the very least, she had a support system in place.

Earlier, Winn had suggested mixing blood with marinara sauce, just in passing while they were talking about Italian food and how she would need to be careful with it from now on. As she kept a side-eye on the boiling pasta, she looked over the ingredients for fresh-made marinara and pondered how that would work.

Her train of thought was interrupted when her phone rang. She didn't bother looking to see who it was, she just answered, still focusing on cooking.

"Hello?"

" _KARA DANVERS, HOW THE FLYING F*CK ARE YOU A VAMPIRE NOW?"_

Kara lurched back, ears ringing. Then it dawned on her. She recognized that bellow.

"Miss Grant? Is that you?"

" _Answer me, Danvers. How can a vampire even scratch your skin, let alone bite down? You're bulletproof, for f*ck's sake!"_

A chill shot up her spine.

"What…how…uh, Miss Grant, I thought we talked about this. I'm not Supergirl. You've even seen us together!"

" _Oh, that threw me for a bit, let me tell you. But I'm a perceptive woman, Kara. I couldn't be kept in the dark for too long. Besides, some of that 'I need this' argument did get through to me. Grounding, right?"_

Kara sputtered for a moment before sighing deeply.

"Yeah…yeah, it is…"

" _Out of curiosity, how did you pull that side-by-side bit off? Hologram? Magic illusion? Psychic trick? Shapeshifter?"_

"The last one. Although he is also a psychic."

" _Same one who tried to impersonate you that one time? I'm guessing so."_

Cat's voice altered a bit, the older woman playing up a posh accent.

" _Kiera has been my assistant for years. She would never make such a rookie mistake as whole milk."_

"Well, to be fair, he was probably uncomfortable the whole time," Kara said, "He doesn't like taking female forms. It's…unsettling."

" _And he clearly doesn't know much about how women act, either. What was he, from Mars?"_

"Yes actually. Listen, I'm going to put you on speaker, I'm in the middle of cooking."

Kara put the phone on the counter, clicked the button, and went to stir her pasta.

"Okay, you're good."

" _You still eat?"_ asked Cat, _"Or is cooking a euphemism now?"_

"To be fair, I am trying to figure out how to add blood to marinara."

" _Try draining some of the liquid out and replacing what's lost with blood."_

"Not a bad idea, thanks. It shouldn't be that difficult, since I have to make it raw. The store-bought stuff usually has garlic, and I am staying away from THAT."

" _According to Celeste, sunlight doesn't bother you much. You think garlic will?"_

"Not taking chances."

" _But back to my original question: how the flying-"_

"I heard you the first time," Kara deadpanned, "Quite well. Turns out, I'm vulnerable to magic. Yippee for me."

" _Kara, are you alright?"_

Kara stopped stirring and silently dealt with the sauce. It wasn't until everything for the sauce was in the pot, a process that only took a half a minute at super-speed, that she spoke again.

"Actually, Miss Grant…no. No, I am not. I nearly die, and when I wake up, I find out I have to drink blood to survive. That I have to hurt people to keep living. My first feeding, I drained a man dry. Everyone keeps telling me I did what I had to, that he was a multiple rapist and deserved it, but I can't stop hearing his body hit the floor. I can't stop seeing it laying there, knowing that I did that. Nothing that anyone tells me will be able to keep that out of my nightmares."

" _Oh, Kara…I realize that you've probably heard this a lot lately, but I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."_

Kara didn't answer. She just continued to cook the sauce.

It was a lot darker than ordinary tomato would have been.


	4. Crossfire

_You know guys, most authors like to hear more in a review than just 'Keep going'_

 _Just saying…_

 _Bad guys get pummeled, world gets built, Kara gets a new trick, and there's plenty of Lena. What more can you ask for?_

* * *

 **Supergirl: Blood Ties**

Chapter 4

Crossfire

Time passed, and Kara continued to adjust.

She gradually noticed changes in her body. Her speed, for example, seemed to have increased. She was always fast, faster than Clark in fact (something she had always attributed to a difference in build), but she was now even faster, easily breaking her previous speed records on the ground and in the air.

Her hearing and smell were just the tiniest bit sharper. For example, she had always been able to pick out Alex's heartbeat, and still often do so in order to fall asleep, the familiar sound giving her comfort. Now, the heartbeat was easier than ever to pick up, and she could even sense other hearts more efficiently if she concentrated. Her training to control her senses helped keep the newly sharpened ones in check.

Her fingers seemed much more dexterous, and her normal temperature had changed. Not enough to be different from humans, but she had always ran rather warm, so the change was noticeable to her. And her sleeping patterns were strange. She would often wake up at weird times of the night, and be struck by sudden fatigue in the day, no doubt her diurnal nature clashing with the traditionally nocturnal vampirism.

Her appetite swiftly spiraled down to around average human consumption. Shanoa had explained that while Kara could still process normal food, and far more efficiently than humans to boot, she required blood in order to survive, gaining important nutrients that her body could not process from other sources.

"Most vampires eat like birds, very lightly in regards to actual food. I imagine you eat more than that due to your alien physiology still requiring a lot of calories. Same subtraction, different starting point."

Being a lover of all kinds of food, Kara didn't take this well at first…then she calculated her new food bill. She got over it pretty quickly after that.

The worst though, was the sound and smell of blood. Often times, without warning, she would become aware of sound of blood rushing through the people around her. She would be able to smell it on them, especially through open cuts and the like. Sometimes, it would be overpowering, and she'd feel a pull at her gut. She knew what it was. Her nature was telling her of prey, of all the walking blood bags around her and that she should drink.

Celeste had come to check on her one day and found her hitting herself on the head, muttering for the blood to quiet down. The older vampire had quickly got her a blood bag from her stores, and that helped.

Kara got a set up similar to Celeste's in her office, so if the urges ever hit her at work, she'd be able to head them off before they got too bad. And she always had a bag before leaving her apartment so as to try and avoid them altogether. She shuddered to think what would happen if she snapped under the strain of these attacks.

And still, she tried to keep going.

She spent time as Supergirl, fighting crime of all kinds. She chatted with bystanders once the criminals were caught. She rescued cats from trees and took a moment to fawn over them with the owners. She even busted up an underground club that was forcing aliens to fight.

She spent time as Kara Danvers. She loved her new job, loved talking with people and getting their stories, loved the act of writing. She had a few sister nights with Alex, and visited the alien bar with Winn and J'onn. She teased the Martian about his new lady friend. She even got lunch with Lena once or twice, enjoying time with her new friend.

And every night, she'd light a candle and pray to Rao for strength. It was something that she had done on and off over the years, but recently, she'd found renewed comfort in the words and actions, comfort she desperately wanted.

What she _didn't_ do was discuss her new nature. Not if she could help it anyway. Twice now, Celeste had invited Kara to a vampire bar, but Kara had taken rain checks. Shanoa kept trying to show her various aspects of being a vampire, but aside from some magic lessons, Kara tried to avoid that.

As she lay in the DEO medbay, her eyes still burning, she wondered if she should have taken Shanoa up on those offers more.

It had started as a simple bank robbery, but the robbers had alien weaponry. After getting ragdolled by a gravity gun and putting holes in buildings because of it, Supergirl tried to match the laser beam of the leader with her own heat vision.

It felt like acid was being poured into her eyes. Eventually, she was forced to cut off the heat beams, the pain too great, and the enemy fire had hit her full force, forcing her back and allowing the bandits to escape.

Kara kept a cool cloth over her eyes as she told the story, and when she was finished, she felt a punch at her shoulder.

"That was a foolish thing to do!" came Shanoa's voice.

"Explain please. And don't hit her, she's wounded," came Alex's voice.

"Kara, has your heat vision been bothering you lately?"

"A little, but not like this," Kara answered.

"You've used smaller, less powerful beams then, yes?"

"Now that I think about it, yes. Today was the first time in a while that I've gone full force with them. Why?"

"First time since you became a vampire then?"

"Stop beating around the bush," Alex admonished.

"Fine. The Tepes bloodline is potent, and very sun-resistant, but that resistance is for naught if you're blasting concentrated solar energy through one of the most vulnerable parts of your body!"

"Oh," Kara said weakly.

"So she can't use her heat vision anymore?" Alex asked.

"Any more bursts like that and she runs the risk of graver damage."

"But her heat vision is a big part of how she fights. It's her main long-range attack. How is she supposed to deal with that?"

"Magic of course," was Shanoa's reply, and Kara could almost see her rolling her eyes, "As soon as she's up and about, we'll work on some fire spells. With the right twists, we can craft a concentrated beam similar to the heat vision, that will make an excellent direct replacement. Hopefully, she's a quick study."

Kara was, actually. It only took a few hours to nail down a proper beam, despite Shanoa's slight passive aggressiveness throughout the lesson.

"If you had taken these lessons more seriously, maybe we could have figured this out earlier."

"I'm sorry, but I'm still leery about all this," Kara argued.

"Well, stop. This is a part of you now. You won't get very far in life if you keep denying a part of yourself. I thought you would have learned that lesson when you put on that cape."

Kara couldn't really argue that point, but she felt like she should have.

 **oOo**

Kara tapped away at her article. It was a puff piece this time, and she tried not to be mad at Snapper for forcing it on her. After landing Cat Co a massive story with the alien fight club, she was hoping that he would take her more seriously. Instead, she got a story about a local fashion show. Something about it 'being best written by a woman'.

"Misogynistic troll," she muttered.

A knock on her office door drew her attention. Quickly making sure there were no blood bags in sight, she called for whoever it was to come in.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"Lena! Surprise visit to Cat Co?"

"Here to see you, actually. You have a minute?"

"Please!" Kara replied, dramatically gesturing to her computer, "I need a break from… _this_."

"Not a very hard-hitting piece, I take it?" Lena asked, grinning at Kara's antics.

Kara blew a raspberry and got up.

"What can I do for you?"

"Well, L-Corp is hosting a party this weekend. It's a gala fundraiser for the Children's Hospital after that horrific attack on their new building. I was…hoping you'd come."

"Like, to cover it for Cat Co, or…"

"You can if you want, but mostly, as my guest."

Kara blinked and made a confused noise. Lena looked a bit sheepish and leaned forward, biting her lip.

"You are literally my only friend in National City. Most people wouldn't touch a Luthor with a ten-foot pole. It would mean a lot to me if you were there."

"Oh, of course, of course. I'll be there. What's the dress code?"

Lena smiled brightly.

They talked for a bit about the details before Lena excused herself. After she left, Kara realized something. She had been listening to Lena's heartbeat. She still was, the sound getting fainter as she walked away. And it was only Lena's, she wasn't picking up on any other heartbeats nearby. She hadn't really been trying, either.

"Really hope that isn't my subconscious thinking she'd be tasty," she muttered.

 **oOo**

Kara hummed as she sipped her blood bag. The anti-alien organization Cadmus had released a propaganda video tying the recent robberies to alien technology, using it as an example of 'dangerous alien influence'. Those people were starting to grate at her. First Metallo, now this, and she was certain they were the weapon suppliers.

"As if I don't have enough problems," she muttered, looking over the walkway at the organized chaos of the DEO.

And then she heard someone clear a throat behind her.

"Kara, have you seen Winn? I—"

Kara whirled around to see James, who's expression turned to shock. Kara choked in the small mouthful of blood she had, and quickly hid the bag behind her.

"James, it's not what you think!"

"Fangs," he replied slowly.

Kara felt at her mouth, and sure enough, there they were, still out.

"Okay, it's exactly what you think," she said in a tiny voice.

"Kara, what the hell," he said slowly.

"James, I can explain—"

"Kara, what the hell?"

"If you just calm down for—"

"Kara, what the hell!"

Kara flinched back. There was something in his eyes. Something dark. It scared her.

"James, please," she whimpered, "Please, let me explain."

"What's to explain?" he growled, "Because that sure as hell isn't fruit punch."

Kara reached out to him, still pleading for him to calm down, but he jerked away.

"Get away from me!"

Kara flinched back, and she felt something shrivel and die in her chest. James just looked at her with such scorn that it was hard to believe it.

"James, please…you're my friend…"

James didn't answer, he just turned and walked away. Kara crumpled to the ground, sobbing.

She heard him grumbling as he left.

"I can't believe this. You think you know someone."

And then what sounded like a stumble. She looked in that direction, using her x-ray vision for a better look, and saw that Shanoa has stopped him.

"I heard all of that," she said evenly, "I just want you do know, that if you breathe a word of this to anyone…"

Shanoa popped her fangs and delivered her next words with a growl.

"I'll hunt you down and gut you like a fish. And no, a cross won't protect you. I became an atheist years ago."

She then brushed past him and made her way to Kara. She knelt down and spoke softly.

"I'm sorry, Kara. I'm so sorry."

Kara just continued to cry.

 **oOo**

"It was the way he looked at me. Like I was a stranger."

"I'll hunt him down and shoot him if you want," Alex said, "I warned him back when it looked like you two would date, if he broke your heart, I'd break him. That's still on the table."

"Forget it, Alex. I really should have expected this. I'm a mo—"

"Don't even finish that sentence. He's known you for over a year now. You two dated, sort of. He should have known better. If he can't see you for you, that's his problem. To hell with him."

Kara just took a long pull on her mug of coffee.

"Look, just forget about James. Focus on the good stuff in your life."

"Like you?" Kara asked, "What's up with you?"

"Well, if you're up for it, I _could_ use some advice. Only if you're up for it, though. You got suckerpunched, you have plenty of problems yourself without me heaping mine on."

"Are you kidding? Now I have to hear this."

"Well, if it'll take your mind off it…"

"Quit stalling, Alex."

"So earlier-"

A knock on the door interrupted Alex, and she looked at Kara questioningly.

"Were you expecting anyone else?"

Kara x-rayed the door, but that just raised more questions.

"What is she doing here?"

"Who?"

Kara swiftly answered the door, revealing a well-dressed woman.

"Lena? Hi, come in."

Lena greeted Kara with a smile and a nervous laugh.

"Hi, I'm sorry to keep dropping in on you like this. It's-"

Then Lena noticed Alex. Kara noted that the second she clapped eyes on her sister, Lena's heartbeat grew, for lack of a better term, nervous.

"I know you," Lena said, confused, "You saved my life. The Corben thing."

Alex offered her hand to shake, and introduced herself.

"Special Agent Alex Danvers, FBI."

"She's my sister," Kara said, noting how Lena's heart when nuts upon Alex's introduction, then calmed at her own words.

"Huh. City's smaller than I thought," Lena said as she returned the handshake, "Actually, maybe you can both help me. Remember how I told you about that stupid fight club last week? Now it's my turn to ask for a favor."

"Lena, you sound nervous," Kara said, "What is it?"

"I, uh…I need to get in touch with Supergirl."

Kara and Alex traded a look.

"Why, exactly?" Alex asked.

"That's a little private. But I promise it's nothing nefarious."

"Then why do you sound so nervous?"

"Why wouldn't I be nervous? It's only the sister of a madman asking to see someone who's family had nearly been killed by said madman."

Alex's suspicious gaze stopped, and she looked a bit sheepish.

"Sorry."

"Forget it," Lena replied, waving her hand, "I know how it looks. She'll probably say no anyway. I'm a Luthor, she'll probably be wary of me."

"I think she'll be less so when I tell her you're my friend," Kara said.

Lena smiled a little at that.

"So you'll help?"

"I have a few options," Kara said, "You'll probably hear from her tonight, at least."

"Great! I can't thank you enough for this."

"What are friends for?"

And then Kara's smile dipped a bit. Lena noticed.

"Kara? What's wrong?"

"A friend of mine…we had a bit of an argument."

"Is it serious?"

"He's just being an idiot," Alex said, "He'll come around, and if he doesn't, he doesn't deserve a friend like Kara. And then I'll find a way to shoot him."

"Alex, you're not shooting James," Kara admonished.

"Okay, then you can borrow my gun and shoot him yourself."

"No one's shooting anyone!"

Lena tried to hide her snickers and failed.

"Kara, dear, she's pulling your leg. It's something older siblings do. The stories I could tell about when Lex and I were children…"

"I'll bet," Alex said with a light laugh, "I heard he was quite snarky even before he went bananas."

Kara glared at the snickering women.

"You two are terrible."

 **oOo**

Kara hummed softly as she landed on the balcony of Lena's office. She was becoming quite sensitive of Lena's heart, in a way that only Alex could compare to. It was really starting to confuse her.

The door was open, so she touched down and cleared her throat to get Lena's attention, shifting to hero mode.

"You wanted to see me?" Supergirl asked.

"Supergirl," Lena said with a nervous smile, "Yes, thank you for coming."

Supergirl stepped in, disguising her own nervousness by nonchalantly looking around. She knew that Lena was smart, and she was a friend to Kara Danvers. If she looked too hard at Supergirl…it had happened with Cat Grant, it could happen again. She needed to tread carefully.

"I wanted to invite you to my party," Lena said, rising from her desk.

Supergirl stopped, blinking awkwardly. That was unexpected.

"Kara Danvers told me you were going on with the fundraiser. That's a bad idea, it's definitely going to be a target for this gang."

"That's why I need you there to protect it," Lena argued, "With Supergirl in attendance, I know my guests and I will be safe."

"You like to take risks, don't you?" Supergirl asked, giving Lena a serious look, "When Corben was after you, and now this, why?"

"Well, you can't live in fear," Lena replied with a steely gaze, "You of all people must understand that. Time and again, you risk everything to see justice done. Is it so hard to believe that I feel the same way? Or are you one of those people that thinks there's no such thing as a good Luthor?"

"In answer to your second question, I believe that everyone should be judged on their own merits. In answer to your first, it's a little hard to believe, because you're hiding something."

Lena started slightly, then put on a mask of indifference.

"Oh, of course," Lena drawled, "I should have expected this. It's because of my family, isn't it? I'm a Luthor, I _must_ be hiding something."

"Actually, it's because your heart is doing the flamenco in your chest."

Lena blinked.

"Oh. You…you were listening?"

"My hearing's been improving lately, so I learned how to play lie detector. I'll admit some trepidation connected to your family, but I resolved to give you the benefit of the doubt. All the same, well…hope for the best-"

"Plan for the worst. You listened for confirmation. I suppose I'd do the same thing."

"So are you going to tell me the whole story, Miss Luthor?"

Lena sat back down and sighed.

"Fine. The fundraiser itself is legit. But I had hoped that it would be a target for this gang. In fact, that's what I was counting on. I have this device. It's called a Black Body Field Generator. I can use it to render the alien weaponry useless. I had hoped that you would attend the fundraiser both as insurance and to keep the gang busy while I make the final calibrations on the device. I would do so earlier, but I need to see the weapons and their fire to make the proper adjustments."

"And you couldn't have told me that before because…"

"Because I wasn't sure if you'd believe me. After everything my family has done to yours-"

"A person isn't their family."

"You say that, but that's harder in practice. I have the best of intentions, surely you realize that. I just want to do good in the world, however I can. Can you imagine, having something as dark as the Luthor legacy hanging over your head, and wanting to do anything to escape it?"

Kara's mind flashed to the image of fangs. She could feel the phantom pain in her neck. Her gut twisted in response, and she could feel movement in her mouth, her own fangs making themselves known. She forced the feelings down, looking slightly away and lightly stroking her chin and mouth, trying to disguise her slip as a nervous tic.

"Lately…yeah."

She took a breath, making sure her fangs were back in hiding before speaking to Lena again.

"Okay, I'll help. But I want some insurance that your anti-weapon whatever will be ready."

"I've got all the pieces in place. They'll work. Like I said, I just need to modulate the right frequency once the weapons are in play. That'll be the trickiest part."

"Then let's make it easier. I know a guy…"

 **oOo**

The weekend seemed to come like lightning, and soon enough, Kara and Winn were making their way into the garden where the gala was taking place.

"Okay, so the Muon Particle Detector will let us know if there are any weapons within a hundred feet," Winn whispered, "I've been trading emails with Lena, and I think we can cut our calibration time in half. All that's left to do is wait for the sharks to come."

"Please don't say sharks, I hate sharks," Kara shot back, "I see Lena, commence Operation Doubtfire."

The two split, and Kara got Lena's attention.

"Kara!" Lena exclaimed with a wide smile, "It's really great to see you, I'm glad you came."

"Well, if it saves you from having to deal with old white men all night," Kara said with a grin, which Lena returned.

"The most dangerous animal is truly the WASP, especially for an Irishwoman."

"I've heard. One of my other friends is Irish. I should have guessed you were, you've got a bit of an accent."

"I mostly picked it up in boarding school, but my biological mother was Irish, so…by the way, have you seen Supergirl?"

"I'm sure she's on her way. Or maybe even checking out the area before dropping in."

And then Winn purposefully bumped into Lena, making a small scene about hoping he hadn't spilled his drink on her, and Kara took a second to duck away.

"Seriously, I am so clumsy," Winn said.

"You're fine," Lena replied before dropping into a whisper, "And I hope you're better with your tools, Mr. Schott."

"I will be," he whispered back.

Supergirl landed then, and Winn snuck away as Lena greeted her.

"I'm glad you could make it."

"It's for the children," Supergirl replied, throwing her smile around before turning back to Lena, "I hope this goes well."

"We'll wait and see how the evening pans out," Lena said, giving her a quick wink.

"I suppose. I'm going to keep an eye out from above, but I'll be back at the first sign of danger."

"I can't interest you in sticking to the ground a bit longer?"

"I'm not the biggest party girl."

Then Supergirl leaned forward conspiratorially.

"And between you and me, Rao save me from old WASPs."

Lena fought down a snicker as Supergirl took to the air again.

While everyone's eyes were on the sky, Kara slipped back in behind Lena.

"Kara," Lena said, noticing her, "You just missed Supergirl."

"Did I? Golly. Serves me right for scoping out the buffet."

The night continued. Kara saw James attending, and the two locked eyes for a moment. Winn, who had been talking to James, elbowed the larger man, mouthing 'be civil'. Kara didn't stop to see his reaction, making a beeline for the buffet and scarfing down some cheese.

"You look upset," came Lena's voice.

Kara swallowed harshly before answering.

"Remember that friend I told you about a few days ago?"

"The one your sister wanted to shoot? He's here?"

Kara nodded.

"Where? I can dump champagne on him for you."

"Lena…"

"I'll make it look like an accident."

"Just forget it."

And then Winn was suddenly there, a device like a phone in his hand.

"Trouble, come on," he said before jerking his head toward the stage.

"Get somewhere safe," Lena told Kara, grasping her arm gently before following Winn.

An explosion sounded out, and three men carrying large weapons entered the garden.

"My, my. Look how many pretty things there are. Let's keep this real simple, people. Hand over every ring, pearl, diamond, watch, wallet, and no one gets disintegrated."

"I duck away for five seconds to powder my nose, I swear," came an annoyed voice.

Everyone looked up to see Supergirl cracking her knuckles.

"You boys picked the wrong party to crash."

The man with the gravity gun got a shot off, sending Supergirl to the ground. The man with the plasma rifle tried to draw a bead, but she tossed a rock from her crash in his direction.

From there it was chaos. She kept the gang's attention on her to allow the civilians time to escape. She noticed James helping direct people, and even threw a punch at the gravity gun wielder when he got close, but he got pistol whipped for his trouble. Supergirl buzzed the man to allow James a second to escape. She would normally be using her heat vision to fire back, but the memory of burning kept her from using it. It would only throw her off balance. Taking a peek at the stage with her x-ray vision let her know that Lena and Winn were at work on the device, she just had to keep—

Pain.

The leader with the larger gun had gotten a shot at her, sending her to the ground. As she shook her head to get her bearings back, she heard his voice.

"Light's out, Supergirl."

By sheer instinct, she focused a beam of heat vision at him, blocking the beam of powerful energy. She hissed in pain as the heat vision seared her eyes, but she dared not stop. She recognized the weapon, knew what kind of damage it could do. She just had to keep up her own pressure.

But then the other two added their weapons fire to the beam struggle, and Supergirl knew she couldn't keep this up. It already felt like her eyes were boiling.

She heard Shanoa's voice in her head.

" _Feel the power within you. Grab hold of it and concentrate. Focus is the key to all magic."_

"Screw it," she muttered, bringing her hands up.

With a whispered word, a beam of power spewed forth. She cut her heat vision to focus all her concentration on the spell, which met the opposing beams and held its own.

"What the hell?" the leader shouted.

Magic met alien science, the two forces pushing against each other. Supergirl grinned, she was doing it, and so easily! She needed to use magic more often.

Then she saw a field of energy erupt from the stage, and her grin grew. She waited for just the right moment to cut her spell.

The field touched the weapons, and they were yanked into the air. The were drawn together via irresistible force, and the clash destroyed all three harmlessly.

The gang gawked at this sight, as did the remaining crowd, but Supergirl wasted no time. She rushed forward, shoving two members to the ground with such force that the impact knocked them out, and then grabbing and throwing the third for the same effect.

"Goodnight, gentlemen," she quipped, and that shook the crowd out of its shock.

"The heck was that beam thing?" asked a man, "New power?"

"Er, yeah. Still getting a handle on it, but…adrenaline, you know?" Supergirl replied.

"Superman can't do that…can he?" asked a woman.

"Of course not," Supergirl said, schooling her face into a prideful expression, "He's a _boy_."

That got a few snickers out of the ladies.

 **oOo**

"As well as last night went, that was still a great risk you took," Supergirl said.

"I just wanted to see justice done," Lena shrugged.

"Well, I couldn't have stopped them without you."

"Oh, go on."

"I'm serious. Those weapons were dangerous, even I was getting ragdolled by them. But you were the one who figured out how to take them out of the equation. You're the hero here."

"Well, I couldn't have got it working without your friend, or without you running interference."

"Still…thank you."

Lena smiled brightly and replied, "Who would have believed it? A Luthor and a Super, working together."

They both chuckled at that.

"I hope we can work together more in the future," Lena said.

"Me too," Supergirl replied, a part of her wondering about the sudden warmth she felt.

Any further conversation was interrupted by an older woman walking in.

"Oh," she said, looking between the two, "I didn't realize you had company."

"Would you excuse me, Supergirl? I have to take this."

Supergirl felt the good mood drain out of the air, but she acquiesced, taking her leave.

As Kara went home and downed a bag of blood, she could not stop thinking about Lena's happy smile during their last exchange.

"I wonder who that woman was, though. Lena didn't seem happy to see her. I hope she's okay."

* * *

 _They're so cute, aren't they? And look! The ending isn't depressing for once!_

 _(imitates Kermit) Yaaaaay!_

 _And I know some people are going to complain about James. Well, I needed a sacrificial lamb. I had to show the two extremes of people learning the vampire secret. Alex is the good extreme, supportive because she still believes in Kara. There needed to be a bad extreme, someone in Kara's circle who freaks out about it and rejects her. Sadly, James had to take on that role. Don't expect him to change his tune out of nowhere, either. He always struck me as someone who was very stubborn in his views and actions, so it's going to take something big to shake him_


	5. Matters Between Sisters

_Fair warning, guys, this is really damn short, but it's important character stuff, and I couldn't find a way to work it into another chapter without messing with the flow. SO, it's by itself._

 _In which Alex comes out, and Kara gives her (and the readers) a big surprise._

* * *

 **Supergirl: Blood Ties**

Chapter 5

Matters Between Sisters

' _Another day, another piece of weirdness. At least I can relate to the whole parasitic thing,'_ Kara thought.

As Supergirl dusted her hands off after turning the Parasite to dust, she cast a gaze over at the silver-clad vigilante, the man calling himself Guardian. She then sighed sharply.

"Any other day, I'd be trying to bring you in for questions…but it's been a long day and I am too hungry for this junk. So…another time?"

The man had the nerve to salute jauntily as he hopped on his motorcycle.

" _See you around, Supergirl_ ," his altered voice called out before he rode away.

"Did that seem tense? He sounded tense. I'm talking to myself."

She tapped her earpiece.

"Okay, I'm going home now and I'm going to eat and crash, so no one worry. But before I do, how's J'onn? He came out of that power drain worse than I did."

" _Still asleep,_ " came Winn's reply, " _The blood transfusion went well, though. M'gann came through. She's with him now."_

"Great, let me know of there are any changes. And get someone down to the fight scene for clean-up. Not much of that, mind you, but still…"

As Supergirl shot off herself, her found herself casting her mind back, remembering the conversation she had had with Alex earlier:

 _It was a lovely day out, but Alex didn't seem to be enjoying it, and was extremely nervous for some reason. Kara tried to put her at ease._

" _Alex, whatever it is, you can tell me. We're getting through my little blood problem, we can get through this."_

" _The sun's not bothering you, is it?"_

" _No, now don't change the subject."_

 _Alex faltered a bit more before saying "It's about Maggie."_

" _Your cop friend?"_

" _She and I started working on a couple cases together," Alex explained, her voice stuttering slightly from nerves, "And, you know, we started hanging out after work. And, you know, I…I started…um…_ thinking _about her."_

" _I don't know what that means," Kara said, "Do you want to sit down? You look like you need to sit down."_

" _No, I don't need to…I just…I started to develop feelings for Maggie…like, those kind of feelings…"_

 _Kara stopped walking and just began to stand and stare._

" _So," Alex continued, "Maggie thought that I should tell you, and I did, I just…I just did. Do you need to sit down?"_

" _No, no I do not," Kara softly replied, keeping her gaze fixed on her sister, "Alex…are you…coming out to me? Is that what this is?"_

 _Alex's face fell._

" _You know what, this was a mistake, forget I said anything."_

 _She turned away, but then there was a vice grip on her wrist._

" _Did I ever tell you about romance and mating on Krypton?"_

 _Alex couldn't look at her sister._

" _Yeah. Chosen by the houses for compatibility, done for alliances, children born from gestation machines instead of naturally. Sex was practically taboo, and Clark's birth was considered big news because it was completely natural. Very, very conservative. I remember it took a long time to get you to stop thinking like that in regards to romance. Lots of romantic comedies were involved. You've told me that."_

" _Did I mention that gender was often an afterthought in those pairings?"_

 _Alex mechanically turned to Kara. Her free arm flopped uselessly at her side, her mouth was open, and her eyes were as big as saucers._

" _Beg pardon?" she squeaked._

 _Kara led her to a nearby bench and sat her down, sitting beside her and throwing her arm around her sister._

" _So yeah. Compared to the otherwise conservative nature of relationships, Krypton was very much okay with same-sex pairings. I was taught that it didn't matter. Heck, I had a distant cousin on my mother's side who was married to another woman. It wasn't_ common _, but it wasn't unheard of. And no one batted an eye."_

" _Why didn't you tell me this sooner?"_

 _Kara smiled ruefully and replied, "You humans and your labels. Everything was lesbian this and bisexual that. This is queer, this is straight. It took me forever to wrap my head around transgender people. Not anything against them, of course, we just didn't have that on Krypton. What we did have was a respect for sexuality. If a guy admitted to liking other guys, it would be added to the personality profile and that would be taken into account during the matching process. I was too young to really understand, but I was starting to, and the conclusions I was drawing was that I liked both. Then I come to Earth, and there were all these rules about who to date. It was just easier to ignore romance in general through school and college. Being worried about breaking a prospective paramour in half helped in that. And now I'm an adult with an important job, a superhero with a massive workload, and a Rao-damned vampire. Where do I get time for dating?"_

 _Alex stared at her and squeaked, "You're bisexual?"_

" _If you want to use the term. Personally, I don't believe in the labels."_

 _Alex slumped backward and took a sharp breath._

" _This is not how I imagined the conversation going."_

" _Alex, I'm sorry I didn't bring this up, but compared to everything else, it didn't seem important. And I guess I should apologize. When we were kids, everything was about me and my problems, my secrets. There was never any room for yours."_

" _Kara, don't start that. I forgave you for that a long time ago."_

" _Well, here you are carrying this massive secret, and we've never hit it before. I think my self-criticism is valid."_

" _You were a little girl with PTSD. I think that outweighs a little thing like romantic preferences."_

 _The two were silent for a while before Alex broke it with a sigh._

" _How about we just agree to bring these things up more often. Letting them fester does nothing good. And if I repressed my sexuality, so did you, Little Miss Bi."_

" _Whatever you say, Lady Lesbian."_

 _The two of them laughed, they couldn't help it._

" _You know I'm okay with this, right?" Kara asked, "The only thing about all this I won't be okay with is if Maggie tells you no for that date you're clearly angling for. In which case, I'd have to bite her."_

" _You keep those things put away…and thank you…for understanding."_

" _I'm here for you, Alex. We're sisters."_

 _Kara squeezed Alex a little tighter. Alex teared up a little._

" _Please…I'm not sure if I can do this without you. I keep thinking back to things in my life…all those men I never connected with…those sleepovers with Vicky Donahue, and how I loved them so much…I'm remembering things I shoved down so deep…and it keeps hitting me over and over and I'm trying to process and every time I do, it makes a little more sense and I wonder how I could have missed it…I just…"_

" _Hey, hey," Kara said softly, bringing Alex into a tighter hug, "You don't have to do this alone. I'm right here for you."_

 _They stayed like that for a while before Kara pulled back with a grin on her face._

" _Now, tell me more about Maggie."_

 _Alex got this soppy look on her face._

" _Ooooh, someone's got it BAD," Kara squealed, "Details!"_

" _I, I just…I just like her so much, you know? She's smart, and she's tough, and she's just so…beautiful…she's so beautiful…"_

"Really hope that went well…I'd hate to have to throw Maggie into space for breaking Alex's heart."

Kara floated through the window of her apartment and touched down, groaning softly.

"Stupid Parasite, stupid power drain."

Kara still ached all over from the event, and she lurched over to the fridge.

"So glad tomorrow's a day off. I could sleep for ages."

She ended up downing three bags of blood before she felt better. She just finished the third before she passed out on the couch.

When she finally woke up, it was close to noon.

"Wow, I was _out_ ," she said to herself, "Okay, shower. Shower for Kara."

When she was done, she quickly made herself a large omelet and wolfed it down. She was just finishing when there was a rapid knock on the door. With the fork still in her mouth, she answered it.

It was Alex. She looked terrible. Her eyes were red and puffy, her lips were quivering, and she was making tiny sobs.

Kara didn't miss a beat. She gently took Alex by the hand and led her inside. She led her to the couch, stopping only to drop the fork back on her plate. She lightly pushed on Alex's shoulders, making her sit on the couch, and then joined her. She took the hand again and patted it comfortingly.

It was only then that she finally spoke, slowly, clearly, and with completely serious.

"Who do I have to punch?"

That opened the flood gates. Through Alex's sobs, Kara got the full story. Alex had made a move on Maggie, kissing her. And while Maggie admitted it was nice, she refused Alex's advance, citing that Alex was just discovering her sexuality, and she didn't need Maggie's baggage.

"'I shouldn't get involved with someone who's just fresh off the boat.' That's what she said. She doesn't…like me…like that…she…"

"Shush, it's okay Alex. I've got you," Kara said, pulling her sister into a hug.

"It's so humiliating."

"No, no-"

"What's wrong with me?"

"Nothing is wrong. Absolutely nothing. I'm proud of you. You still admitted this about yourself, and I'm proud of you."

"No…"

"I am. You've been denying this for so long, and now you've accepted it. I'm proud of you. So proud of you."

"Kara…"

"I'm proud of you, and that's not going to change."

"You don't have to-"

"You've been doing this for me ever since the attack, let me do it for you."

They sat there for a long time, wrapped in each other. One sister helping another through the tears.

* * *

 _I'm not sorry. You really think an_ alien _culture would have the same view on gender identity/sexuality? Hell, half the reason Wonder Woman is bisexual is because of the culture she grew up in (look it up). Why should Kara be any different?_


	6. A Dark Place

_Lillian's a real b*tch. That is all._

* * *

 **Supergirl: Blood Ties**

Chapter 6

A Dark Place

She didn't really like Guardian, if she was completely honest. Kara felt that, as skilled as he might seem to be, he was going to get himself killed. Though he had good intentions, she'd give him that.

So when reports of murders seemingly committed by Guardian began to pop up, Kara didn't really know what to think.

Flying usually helped clear her head, but right now, all she could feel was the weight of everything pressing down.

There was the usual stuff. Her responsibilities as Supergirl, her normal life as Kara Danvers.

There was the stuff in the people around her. James' distance, Alex coming to grips with her sexuality. She had wanted to put the fear of God into Maggie for breaking her sister, but Alex insisted on handling it herself. Didn't stop Kara from giving the cop a death glare when the sisters ran into her at the alien bar when Alex was showing it off.

" _Oh, the sister! Oh, I've heard so much about you from Alex."_

" _And I've heard all about you. ALL about you."_

There was Cadmus, and the bile they were spewing. Plus whatever else they might be planning now, that was a big mystery.

And of course, there was the big, bat-shaped elephant in the room. At the very least, Kara found comfort in that she hadn't hurt anyone with this since the first time. All the blood she'd been subsisting on was from bags.

And now there was this Guardian thing. She stood by what she had said before. She'd never met the Bat, but Clark had told her enough stories. Vigilantes were nuts. And these murders, if they were true, were proving it.

Speaking of…

" _NCPD has Guardian pinned down near the wharf. They've just called for backup,_ " came Alex's voice on the comms.

"Let's get this guy once and for all."

But before she could even think about heading toward the wharf, a high-pitched buzzing slammed into her ears. She hit the airbrakes and clapped her hands over her ears, and that lessened the sound a bit. But it still hurt like heck.

And then she heard a voice in the buzz.

" _Hello, Kryptonian."_

"Cadmus" she whispered.

" _Got it in one_ ," came the reply, and Supergirl realized that her comm had been jacked, " _And do you know why we call ourselves that?"_

"It's pretentious sounding?"

" _Cute. Cadmus was the very first Greek hero."_

"If you think you're a hero, then you're crazier than I thought."

" _I'm inviting you over. Waiting here for you is the trigger for a powerful bomb. You don't show up, it detonates. You tell anyone where you're going, it detonates. You come alone, we destroy the trigger, and we'll even do it in front of you. Come to me, Supergirl. But I should warn you. In the myths, Cadmus was really only famous for one thing. He killed monsters."_

"If you're trying to be threatening, you didn't stick the landing. _Lots_ of Greek heroes killed monsters. It was a thing they did. Hercules, Perseus, Theseus, Odysseus, Bellerophon, the list goes on."

" _Well, someone's well-read."_

"Greek myths were among the things I read when I was learning English. And, now I know where your voice is coming from, so thanks for staying on the line."

Supergirl rushed across the sky, zeroing in on a lonely old hotel and bursting in through the window.

The place seemed empty, but she could hear a few heartbeats. She walked down the halls, keeping her ears open. As she entered an atrium, she heard a heart close by, but it sounded strange, like it was echoing inside metal.

She turned, and her confusion grew at the figure on the stairs.

"J'onn? What are you doing here?"

"I think the real question is, what are you doing here?" the man said, "I should have locked you in that laboratory when I had the chance."

Horror filled Kara as she realized who she was talking to.

"Hank Henshaw," she whispered with all the fear of a person reuniting with a childhood boogieman.

Henshaw suddenly rushed forward, burying his fist into her stomach. She bent forward, gasping. That blow had hurt.

"Cadmus saved me," he said, "Brought me back from the brink of death. Now it has taken on the DEO's former mission, the glorious crusade of ending alien life on this planet."

His free fist came up, slamming into Supergirl's face and launching her up.

"I think I'll particularly enjoy ending the Martian who stole my life."

Supergirl hit the ground hard, but managed to turn enough to launch a bolt of energy from her position on the ground. It hit the side of his face, and he stumbled back with a cry of pain.

But just as Kara was rising up, a beam of energy hit her, launching her down the hall.

"Hank Henshaw is dead."

Kara's vision started to blacken, she saw that part of Henshaw's face had been burned away, revealing a metallic surface and blue robotic eye.

"I'm Cyborg Superman."

And then, darkness.

 **oOo**

Kara woke up in pain. As she refocused into the waking world, she realized she was in a cage. Her first instinct was to bend the bars, but when she grabbed them, they felt hot under her hands. She tried to pull, but they wouldn't so much as shake. After a minute, she let go, and noticed tiny burns on her hands, not very large but there.

"Nth metal," she muttered. Shanoa had told her about this stuff. Tremendously strong, and capable of disrupting magic. The burns were from touching it with her semi-supernatural nature. It also meant that her beam spell wouldn't cut the bars.

A door opened at the far end of the room, and Henshaw walked in, along with a woman Supergirl recognized.

"Supergirl," she said, "I don't believe we've been introduced."

"I've seen you before, in Lena Luthor's office," Supergirl said, "What were you doing there?"

"I might ask you the same," she replied with a sneer, "I don't like the idea of you around my daughter."

It hit Kara like a truck.

"You're Lillian Luthor. Lex and Lena's mother."

"I'm a lot of things. A doctor, a patriot, a mother-"

"A liar, a kidnapper, a killer. Does Lena know about Cadmus? Does she know who her mother really is?"

"And what are you to my daughter?"

"I'm a friend," Kara said with conviction.

Lillian scoffed

"I've heard that before. Years ago, Superman came to my son, Lex, and promised him the world. A new dawn for mankind. Lex believed him, poor thing. And then he watched as your kinsman infected this country with his propaganda, as his power became unchecked. And when Lex tried to take that power back, Superman convinced the world Lex was evil."

Lillian had been pacing through this, but she stopped then, looking wistful.

"My darling boy. My genius son. An actual Superman, behind bars for life. Because you and your kind will stop at nothing to poison Earth."

Kara had to will her jaw not to drop in the face of such twisted thinking.

"You're out of your mind," she said.

"We'll agree to disagree," Lillian replied dismissively.

"So, what am I doing here? If you're so anti-alien, why aren't I dead yet?"

"I need something from you. I need you to be human for a little while."

She snapped her fingers and a Cadmus goon came out of nowhere with a crown-like object.

"You remember last year, the Red Tornado android? I know from your fight with it that when you expel enough of your heat vision, you deplete the solar radiation in your cells, leaving you as helpless as any mere mortal. I designed this helmet to absorb the radiation."

"You want me to solar flare?" Supergirl scoffed, "Yeah, that's never gonna happen."

"Hmm. Henshaw, my tablet please."

Henshaw handed over a tablet, and Lillian tapped at it before turning it around to show Supergirl a picture of a building. Outside the door was a clearly alien man.

"This is a picture of a clinic that caters to aliens. Quite advanced for it's size, practically a hospital. I show you this because it is you or them. Put on the helmet. Flare or the bomb I've placed on the premises will go off."

Kara felt her blood run cold.

"You're…you're not serious."

Lillian touched a point on the tablet, and the image was replaced by a large red dot.

"A big red button is a little cliché, I'll admit. But so satisfying somehow."

"You can't. Those are innocent people, that's a hospital!"

"I'm a woman of my word, Supergirl. You flare or they burn."

"It's not going to work anyway. My heat vision's been hard to use lately, that's why I haven't been using it. You have no guarantee that your little hat will work."

"Science is about trial and error," Lillian shrugged, her finger still hovering over the tablet.

Kara sputtered and tried to argue, but Lillian remained impassive, not moving save for wiggling her finger.

The worst part were the eyes. The utter coldness to them. Kara could tell. She meant it.

"Okay, okay, I'll do it! Just…for the love of Rao, but the tablet down!"

Lillian lowered the tablet, scoffing.

"Rao? How utterly…alien."

Supergirl gave her a flat look.

"It means God. It's how I say God. That's no different than if a man from Pakistan says Allah…okay, a little different because of etymology and history, but not very."

Lillian blinked.

"Oh."

Then she shrugged and motioned to the guard to bring forth the device. Back to business it was.

Henshaw took the helmet from the guard, who then unlocked the cage. Supergirl walked out unsteadily, and Henshaw shoved the helmet into her hands.

"Make it fast," he growled.

Kara placed the device on her head, the large visor covering her eyes. She closed her eyes and took a breath.

"I just…fire?"

"Full throttle. The device will do the rest," Lillian answered.

She took another deep breath. This time, she smelled blood in the air. She quickly realized that it had been some time since she last had blood.

"Quit stalling," Henshaw growled.

Kara forced the feeling down, and opened her eyes.

If heat vision had become painful, then a full solar flare was agonizing. Kara felt like her eyes were melting out of her skull. She screamed in pain, pain to rival that of Kryptonite.

And as she felt her energy drain, she felt something else rise up from the depths.

Finally, the heat stopped. Supergirl collapsed, muttering incoherently in Kryptonian.

The guard removed the device. Henshaw stepped forward and delivered a kick to the fallen woman's side.

"Feel that?" he all but shouted as he leveled a punch to her jaw, "That's only a taste. Aliens ruined my life, and I'm going to make sure you all feel as much pain as possible!"

"Henshaw, enough," Lillian said, taking an object from her pocket, "We're on the clock."

After the cyborg moved, she stuck the object into the crook of Supergirl's arm. A vial on the side began to fill with red liquid. Soon it was full, and Lillian removed the object and regarded it.

"Blood of the gods, one might say. Alright boys, throw her back in. Let her sweat out the power drain."

"Maybe she won't get them back in time, and she'll die of thirst in there," Henshaw growled as he dragged the half-conscious woman into the cage, "I can dream, can't I?"

And then they left.

If they had actually spoken Kryptonian, they would have realized that she was repeating a particular word.

" _HUNGRY._ "

 **oOo**

The man slipped into the room and regarded the cage. The figure inside it was still on the ground, covered by her red cape. He slipped over to the cage door, briefly listening to her mutters.

"Sorry, my Kryptonian's a little rusty," he said lightly, pulling out a keycard, "Thankfully, my pickpocketing isn't."

As he unlocked the cell, he heard a click behind him.

"And just what are we doing, Danvers?"

Jeremiah Danvers slowly turned, taking in the Cadmus guard before him.

"Oh hey, I was just—Henshaw? Where'd you come from?"

The guard turned, and Jeremiah made his move grabbing the gun and twisting it out of the guard's grip. The guard retaliated with a punch.

Jeremiah stumbled back, but blocked the next hit, delivering one of his own. The two traded blows for a bit before Jeremiah got the upper hand. The guard overextended is punch, and Jeremiah weaved under it and used the arm as leverage to flip the man over him.

Unfortunately, the guard landed near the discarded gun, and he quickly snatched it up. He pointed it straight at Jeremiah.

"Die, traitor," he growled.

But then a hissing voice interrupted, screeching out in an alien language.

" _BLOOD!_ "

A blur smashed into the guard, and his scream was cut off. A sound like a wolf ripping into flesh reached Jeremiah's ears, and there was then a wet slurping sound.

"Kara?" he asked softly. His adoptive daughter had her back to him, but there was something terrifyingly familiar about the situation.

The sounds soon stopped and the guard dropped to the ground bonelessly. Jeremiah could see that his throat had been savagely ripped open.

Supergirl turned toward him with glowing red eyes. Blood was running down her chin, and her fanged mouth was hissing. She began to stalk toward him.

"Kara, sweetheart it's me. It's Jeremiah. Kara!"

The shout broke the primal trance. She blinked rapidly, the eyes dimming considerably.

"J-Jeremiah? You're alive?" she whispered.

She regarded him. He was much skinner, the emaciated form no doubt the result of his prison conditions under Cadmus. His hair was streaked with grey and his skin was paler. But the face was still a welcome one, and one she would always recognize.

She smacked her lips briefly, confused.

"Wait, when did I…"

Kara turned around and saw the body. She gasped and took a step back, her hands flying to her mouth.

"Oh Rao! No, not again, no!"

"Kara, Kara look at me," Jeremiah cried, spinning her around and forcing her to look directly at him, "He was going to kill me. You saved me. It's okay."

"But I-"

"No! None of that. I'm telling you, you did nothing wrong."

"I don't want this. I NEVER would have wanted this…"

"I got you, Kara. You did nothing wrong. You're okay."

He hugged her, and just like that, she was a little girl again, waking up in the night crying out for her parents and receiving a warm hug and calm whispers.

After a minute, he broke his hug, tugging her along by the hand.

"We need to get you out of here, come on."

Jeremiah led them through hallways, ducking into shadows occasionally.

"I know the patrol routes," he whispered.

"We should have found you sooner," Kara whispered.

"Doesn't matter now. Besides, you were off saving the world. I'm proud of you, Kara. So proud."

The look of pride in his eyes made her believe it.

"But Alex," Kara said, eyes still full of tears, "When she sees you…she's had to be so strong. She took over everything."

"She's always been too strong for her own good," he chuckled.

They ducked into an unused room, and Jeremiah put a hand over Kara's mouth, quietly shushing her. They heard a large form run past. Jeremiah waited until the sound of the footsteps receded before speaking.

"You are in no condition to fight Henshaw."

They finally reached a doorway, and Jeremiah pushed it open.

"Escape tunnel. Follow it all the way to the end."

"But what about you? And the body?"

"I left a timed explosive in the room. That should take care of the evidence."

"You don't want to know about the…you know?" Kara asked, holding her fingers before her mouth in imitation of fangs.

"I think I have time. I don't plan on dying any time soon."

An alarm sounded suddenly.

"And we're out of time. Get going, I'll slow them down, you'll get farther that way."

"No, I'm not leaving you, I'm not losing you again."

"I'll be fine, Kara. I've been here fifteen years. I'll survive a little longer."

"If I leave you here, Alex will never forgive me."

"And if you die here, there will be no one to forgive."

Kara looked torn, but she wrapped her arms around Jeremiah.

"I love you."

"I love you too, sweetheart. Give my love to Alex, tell her I'm okay."

"I will."

"Now get going."

Kara turned and started down the tunnel.

"One more thing," he called after her, "No matter what they say, never let yourself _believe_ that you're a monster.

 **oOo**

When Kara had gotten back to the DEO, she told them of the Cadmus base. A strike team was assembled, but they found nothing. Kara sat in the medbay under sunlamps, listening to Alex rant.

"We were so close! We nearly had him back!"

"I know, Alex. That's the worst part," Kara said.

"What else happened while you were there?" Shanoa asked, her voice calm.

Kara ran through everything, ending with Jeremiah helping her escape.

"He said to tell you that he loves you," Kara finished, looking to Alex.

Alex suppressed a sob.

"So what do you think they wanted my blood for?" Kara asked, changing the subject.

"Ordinarily, I'd say blood rituals, but I think that's a little esoteric for an anti-alien terrorist group," Shanoa said.

"We can figure that out later," Alex interjected, drying her eyes, "I'm more concerned about what happened with the guard. You've never had a slip-up like that."

"It feels so dim, now," Kara explained, "Like one of those out-of-body experiences. I just felt so…hungry. I couldn't stop myself. Jeremiah snapped me out of it, but…"

"I think I know what happened…or at least, I have a guess," Shanoa said, "The Tepes bloodline does not comprise all of your vampire traits. The first thing that entered your body was the original vampire strain, unchanged by the magical fields of Earth. In my research, I've deduced that the strain was much more potent. The older vampires were more raw and animalistic. When Adrian added his blood to the mix, it tempered that strain, made it so that you'd have more control…but there is something even greater keeping it suppressed."

"What?"

"Your Kryptonian side, _mo mhac léinn_. Your _sun-powered_ Kryptonian side. It is the antithesis of the original strain, that's why your body was ripping itself apart before we arrived. When Lillian drained your powers, she drained the sun out of your body. And without it there to help keep the wild strain in check, the Tepes strain had to work a lot harder. By my estimate, if you are ever drained of your powers like this again, your vampiric instincts will become much harder to control."

Silence greeted this proclamation. Kara felt a chill run down her spine. So close to the dark…

" _Rao, forgive me for what I have done,"_ she intoned in Kryptonian.

"Well, at least you can't use heat vision anymore," Alex said with strained lightness, "That was always the quickest way to a solar flare and a power outage. And I'd definitely avoid planets with a red sun from now on."

"Fantastic," Kara said weakly, "So what else has been going on?"

"The Guardian murders turned out to have been committed by someone else wearing a similar suit, who Maggie and I caught, and J'onn's lady friend isn't actually a Green Martian. She's a White."

"Say what?"

* * *

 _Yeah, didn't feel right leaving you guys with such a short chapter for the weekly update, especially when all the other stuff I've written so far has been AT LEAST thrice as long. So, you get 5 and 6 this week._


	7. Medusa

_Hup the hull and away we go  
Stock the galley o'gold  
Whack the divil a'gales he blow  
We'll batter him up in the hold_

 _Dance along on the waterline_  
 _Speed us over the waves_  
 _Back to back on the borderlines_  
 _To never shut up & behave_

 _Gráinne Mhaol_  
 _Queen of the pirates_  
 _She set sail_  
 _On the raging sea_  
 _Gráinne Mhaol_  
 _The gleam of the Irish_  
 _Spun her t—_

 _Oh, you're back already? Is it that time? Sorry, got caught up in some Miracle of Sound._

 _Here you guys go._

* * *

 **Supergirl: Blood Ties**

Chapter 7

Medusa

Kara loved Thanksgiving, she really did. But that didn't mean she wasn't nervous about this year's.

Her nerves weren't helped by her spotting Winn at Cat Co. Curious, she had discreetly followed him, and saw that he was meeting with James. A quick concentration of her hearing and she was able to figure out what it was about.

"So, Kara's having Thanksgiving at her place. Her mom's going to be there, and they've invited me. You could come too, you know. I might be able to pull a string or two."

"Not interested," James grunted.

"You sure? Before Alex and her mom started their drama, it was a fun time last year. And the turkey was great."

"Was the wine nice? Or is there going to be something else in the glasses?"

Winn sighed.

"Okay, I was trying to be nice. I know that you're still wigging about Kara, but I was hoping you'd see reason."

"What's there to see? I know exactly what's going on with her, and I am _not_ dealing that that shit."

"C'mon, Olsen! This is Kara we're talking about."

"Is it?"

Kara turned and left, not willing to hear anything else. She also held back her tears. If James was going to be like that, he wouldn't get anything from her, even tears.

But, since the option of another guest had been put forward…

 **oOo**

"So, you doing anything this weekend?"

Shanoa put her pen and journal down, giving Kara a flat look.

"How about we skip to the part where the point is made?"

"Adrian's still out of town, so you're alone for Thanksgiving. That's not going to fly. So, you're coming to dinner."

"Really?" Shanoa replied with a raised eyebrow.

"What? No one should be alone for the holidays."

"Kara, I'm not American, I don't celebrate this holiday."

"Not the point."

"I feel like it is."

It was Kara's turn to give a flat look.

"Shanoa, you're not going to win this one. You've been doing a lot for me lately, let me do something for you."

The elder vampire finally sighed.

"I'll bring potatoes and some dinner rolls."

"You won't regret this!"

 **oOo**

While Winn and Alex chatted about something, Kara and Eliza bustled around the kitchen, getting everything ready.

"Alright, now for the turkey."

Kara stiffened. She'd forgotten about this. She usually helped cook the turkey via heat vision, something she couldn't really use.

"Kara, if you would."

"Umm…"

A knock in the door interrupted that, and Kara took a peek at who it was.

"Saved by the knock," she muttered as she answered the door.

"I'm not late, am I?" asked Shanoa, a dish and a large Ziploc in her hands.

"Not at all," Kara answered, "Eliza, this is my friend Shanoa. Shanoa, this is my adopted mom, Eliza."

"Pleasure to meet you, ma'am."

"Likewise. What do you have here?"

"Mashed potatoes, old family recipe. And dinner rolls. Half of them are wheat, and half potato."

"That's a lot of potato," Eliza said.

"I'm Irish," she smiled.

Eliza smiled back, then looked a bit worried.

"Oh, wait, the turkey."

Catching the stricken look on Kara's face, Shanoa put the pieces together and threw her a bone.

"I got it. This is usually for the Christmas goose, but…"

Shanoa placed her food on the counter and went over to the turkey, rolling her wrists. She muttered and her hands emanated waves of heat as she waved them over the turkey. In no time, it was cooked. Shanoa checked it with a cooking thermometer and shot off another wave before she was satisfied.

"And done."

Eliza whistled.

"Impressive. I'm guessing you met Kara through work."

"Something like that."

Eliza soon went to speak with Winn, and Kara breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you," she said to Shanoa, "I haven't figured out how to tell her about…you know. I gave her a line about eating earlier so I don't eat like a pig at dinner, that'll explain my difference in appetite—"

"Technically true, I'd imagine."

"But I have no idea how she'll take it. She's going to have enough to process with Alex's announcement."

"Is that why you sister's already deep into her cups?"

Kara tweaked her ears a bit.

"Alex, put it back."

Over by the fridge, Alex froze, a bottle of liquor halfway out of the freezer.

"Nervous, dear sister?" Kara asked, turning to face her sister.

"Just a little liquid courage," Alex said lightly.

"More than a little," Shanoa laughed, "I can smell it from here."

"Not that impressive, Witchy Woman."

"A little impressive. Do you have a basket to put the rolls in?"

Alex motioned her over, and Kara noticed Eliza waving her over. Her foster mother put a pair of wine glasses in her hands and took two herself.

"Table for these. Does Shanoa drink?"

"Wine? I don't actually know. I think her husband might, but he's out of town, that's half the reason I invited her. I didn't want her to be alone."

"Speaking of not being alone, any boys you're hiding?"

Kara bit her lip and replied softly as she set the wine down.

"Things have been…hectic lately. I haven't really had time for a relationship."

Eliza took Kara's hand briefly.

"Take it from someone who's been effectively widowed for over a decade, there is always room for love. It's a lot more important than it seems."

And for some reason, Kara thought of a particular smile, and the shimmer of green eyes. The thought made her feel warm…

"So," came Winn's shout, breaking the train of thought, "Since you're putting the wine out, I'm guessing we're nearly set."

"Nearly," Eliza replied, "Shanoa, do you-"

"Oh, just water for me. I don't really drink…wine."

Out of the corner of her eye, Kara saw Winn bite down a snicker.

Everyone soon got seated, and Eliza spoke up.

"Kara, would you like to do the honors?"

"Of course," Kara said, rising with her glass, "So, it is an Danvers family tradition that, before the meal, we go around and say what we're thankful for. So, whoever wants to go first…"

Alex rose, and Kara yielded the floor.

"I just want to say that there are so many things that I am thankful for. I honestly don't think I've ever felt this much like myself than right now."

Kara flicked her gaze toward Eliza, gauging her. Eliza seemed more confused by Alex's slightly slurred monologue than anything else.

"And there's a reason for that," Alex continued, "And…that reason…well, that reason's-"

But Alex's next words would be lost. A shimmering blue vortex flashed into being above the table. Everyone shot up and backed away amid cries of shock. It vanished just was quickly as it arrived, leaving confusion in its wake.

"This is why I like Americans," Shanoa said, "It's so unpredictable around you."

Winn shot her a look.

"Really?"

 **oOo**

The mystery of the hole in space-time remained unsolved, although Kara couldn't shake the feeling that there was something familiar about it.

Regardless, the focus shifted back to Cadmus. Kara brought up Lena, asking how much she knew about her mother's operation. Winn offered to hack, but Kara had shaken her head.

"Lena's my friend, I can get her to say what she knows."

And despite Winn and Alex's lack of faith in her ability to be subtle and sneaky about it, Kara was still insistent on doing it herself.

Although she was fairly certain that they would hack Lena anyway.

Kara fought down her growl as she thought about this, putting on a smile for Lena, who looked happy to see her.

"I'm not interrupting, am I?"

"No, no, I need a break from… _this_."

Lena dismissively waved her hand over the paperwork on her desk, and Kara snorted.

"Déjà vu."

"Being the head of a powerful company and richer than God has its downsides," Lena laughed, "So what's the order of the day?"

"Little puff piece I'm helping put together. _Women of Power and the Mothers Who Molded Them._ I was hoping to talk to you about yours."

Lena's face fell slightly. Kara didn't need super-hearing to detect the tiny groan.

"Something wrong?" Kara asked.

"No, it's…I'm happy to help, Kara, but I'm just not sure how interesting my mother and I really are."

"I'm sure your mother is fascinating."

Lena gave Kara a fond smile at her chipper tone before shifting back into a more dour mood.

"Listen, you can write whatever sounds good, but the truth is…as a daughter, I always seemed to fall short. We could never agree on anything."

"Like?"

Lena gave her a look, and Kara continued.

"Like with business or—"

"Oh God no, my mother couldn't care less about L-Corp."

"What about back when it was Luthor Corp? How did she feel when you changed the company's direction?"

"You mean when I changed it from its 'murdering, world domination' direction?" Lena asked in a tone so dry that Kara laughed almost defensively, "Truth be told, Lex was always the golden boy in my mother's eyes. I was always closer with my father."

"But you told me that you wanted to make L-Corp into a force for good. She has to be proud of that, right?"

Lena smiled casually, but it was different that her other smiles. Kara had it pegged for what it was instantly. After all, she sometimes saw broken smiles in the mirror. A little more lately, but that wasn't the point. The point was, Kara could tell that, at the very least, Lena and her mother did not get along, and Lena was far too used to it.

"I would hope so. Like I said, though, we never had the best relationship. I was adopted into the Luthor family, so maybe she always saw me as an outsider. Bad luck in foster parent, I guess."

Kara felt her heart break a little, both at the words and the false lightness of Lena's voice.

"I get that," Kara said softly, "Sometimes I forget how lucky I am that the Danvers took me in."

"You're adopted?" Lena asked, a surprised look on her face.

"Yeah, my parents died in…a gas explosion when I was about thirteen. A family friend helped place me with the Danvers. It was rough at first, but it turned out really good. I got a great mom, a sister I can't imagine life without, and for a while, a pretty cool dad."

"For a while?"

"He…disappeared a few years after I was adopted," Kara explained sadly, her mind flashing to the emaciated man helping her escape the jaws of danger, "I have a feeling that he's still alive somewhere, but…well…"

Lena nodded sympathetically.

"Sometimes I wonder about my biological mother. I know so little. That she was Irish, that she always sang me to sleep, that she died of cancer. Little things. Not a lot when you think about it."

Lena looked over at her computer and groaned.

"Stupid me. I'm sorry, I forgot I had a meeting coming up."

"It's okay. Things slip," Kara replied, putting away her notepad.

"I trust you'll do us justice."

"I'll do my best. Thanks for your time. It was good seeing you."

"I always have time for you, Kara," Lena smiled.

Kara really did like those smiles. It was almost enough to make her forget about the fake smile she had worn previously.

Almost.

 **oOo**

Alex was flicking through some papers, telling herself to finish this bit and knock off for the night, when her phone rang. She spared a glance at the screen before answering.

"Maggie, what's up?"

" _Get a team of your men in black down to the alien bar, now."_

The quiver in Maggie's voice instantly drew Alex's suspicions.

"Maggie, what's wrong?"

" _I was just having a drink and I saw this guy. He set off all my alarm bells, so I follow as he leaves, try to talk to him, but he shoves me away. Then I hear this commotion, all this screaming, a lot of people just running out of the bar, and…_ Dios mio _, they're all dead. All the aliens are dead."_

"Stay where you are, we're on our way."

Alex rushed out of her lab to mobilize a response, and resolved to give Maggie a big hug when she got there, because she sounded really shaken up on the phone.

 **oOo**

"You're saying it was a biological agent?" Maggie asked.

She had been brought back to the DEO as both a witness and, as Alex argued, an in with the NCPD. She tried to keep cool as she stood at a table with Alex, Supergirl, a Director Jones who was apparently the head of the DEO, and an unknown woman with a piercing stare.

"We found a device attached to the underside of the bar, which contained traces of an unknown biological agent," Director Jones stated.

"Still running tests, but if the victims are any indication, it appears to affect multiple alien species," Alex added, "Only humans seem to be unaffected. That's the scary part. I've never heard of a weapon, biological or otherwise, that targets only alien physiology. And that thing killed every alien in that bar. Even Phil, and Branx like him are supposed to be extremely resistant to toxins and disease."

"Don't remind me, I saw the bodies," Maggie murmured.

Alex spared a moment to place a comforting hand on Maggie's shoulder before speaking again.

"J'onn, I'd like to bring my mother in on this. She specializes in astrobiology, I think she could really help."

"That's a good idea," he replied.

"Great, let's get going," Supergirl said, starting to walk off.

"No, no, no, no. You're staying here," Alex interjected.

"She's right," J'onn said, "You and I will have to remain quarantined here at the DEO until we know exactly what kind of toxin is responsible for this."

"Him?" Maggie whispered to Alex.

"Martian," Alex whispered back before cutting of the arguing Supergirl, "He's right. I don't care if it is Cadmus, this agent kills aliens indiscriminately, we don't know if your…differences will protect you."

"Actually," the other woman spoke up, an Irish lit on her voice, "Disease has never been a problem for-"

Alex sent her a withering glare.

"Right, better safe than sorry."

Maggie wondered if she was missing something.

 **oOo**

It would be several hours before news came in. In that time, Shanoa kept Kara busy with some magic lessons.

"And that is lightning in a nutshell," Shanoa said.

"Thanks for this, by the way," Kara said as she wrung the heat out of her hands, "I'd have gone stir crazy otherwise."

"I've done stakeouts before, _mo mhac léinn._ I know how it feels to be forced into inactivity. At least we're being productive."

"Next time I see Henshaw, we'll see how he likes a face full of thunderstorm."

"Quite. This is shaping up to be a major offensive. In fact-"

Alex came in just then, cutting off what Shanoa was about to say.

"We've got something."

The three headed up to the main room quickly, meeting Eliza there.

"It's a virus," she said, "A potent one, given the death toll and rate of infection, but it's not transmittable person to person. You have to be directly exposed."

"Hence the machine, I imagine," Shanoa said, "It spread the virus in a cloud. Breathe it in…"

She drew her finger across her throat with a gurgling noise.

"Essentially," Eliza nodded, "There were some viral samples left in the machine, which was designed to dispense a weaponized aerosol. There's something else I found from studying the viral strain. Based on the protein code, I'm fairly certain the virus is from Krypton."

Kara felt her blood run cold.

"But…but how did a Kryptonian virus end up here?" Alex asked, "Where could Cadmus get-"

"My blood," Kara whispered, "That's what they wanted it for. To access the Fortress of Solitude. How much you want to bet that a complete file on the virus is in those databanks?"

 **oOo**

Kara fought down a shudder as she stepped into the Fortress. While the architecture was Kryptonian, and it should have been comforting to see, it felt like stepping into a tomb.

"No wonder Kal keeps a trophy room here," Kara muttered, passing by a display of a strange golden ring, "Offsets the emptiness."

There was another reason for her chill. She had found footprints in the snow near the key. The footprints did not match her cousin's boots, and the key had been haphazardly tossed to the side.

As she made her way toward the main database console, she heard the whirr of hover-jets. A small golden robot floated up to her.

"Kelex," she said, greeting the custodian of the Fortress, "What happened here?"

"Kara Zor-El," he said in his tinny voice, "There is an intruder in the Fortress."

Kara whipped her head around. Was a Cadmus agent still here?

"Where? Who is it?"

Then Kelex's eye turned red.

"You. You are the intruder."

Kelex fired a laser blast, but Kara easily dodged. He aimed another strike, but Kara was faster.

Her form broke down and disintegrated, leaving behind a cloud of mist. The cloud surged forward and enveloped Kelex. The robot struggled as the mist slipped into his chassis, but he was fighting a cloud, which was as ineffective as fighting shadows. He soon dropped to the floor, the light in his eye dying.

The mist left him, and reformed into Supergirl.

"And power core shorted out. Sorry, Kelex, but you'll reboot soon, I'm sure."

Kara then made her way to the console.

"Shanoa was right. Mist is fun."

Her small smile left her as she saw dried blood and broken glass on the crystal keys.

"Vial of my blood. What did you want here, Henshaw? Had to have been you, no one else could have lifted the key."

Kara placed her hand on the console, powering it up, then ordered the computer to access the last known files.

"Project Medusa? Open."

A hologram of appeared, and Kara choked at the image.

" _Dad,_ " she whispered in Kryptonian.

" _Hello, Kara,_ " the AI program responded in kind, " _What do you wish to know?"_

Kara shook her head to pull her thoughts together and spoke.

" _What is Project Medusa?"_

" _Medusa: a weaponized virus I created for the defense of planet Krypton."_

Kara choked on her breath.

" _WHAT? YOU made a virus?"_

" _It was a joint partnership between the Military and Science Guilds. We bioengineered the virus to attack non-Kryptonian physiology. In the event of an invasion on a certain scale of danger, like say, the Dominators, Medusa could be deployed to kill alien combatants, while keeping our civilians and infrastructure safe from harm."_

" _I…I can't be hearing this. Growing up, you told me your work saved lives."_

" _I was saving Kryptonian lives. It was the perfect weapon."_

Kara shook her head, revolted.

"You were dealing in death," she said, switching back to English in sheer disgust at her father, "And now your _perfect weapon_ is in the hands of my enemy."

She slapped the console, turning it off, and walked away. Never had she felt so ashamed of her culture.

 **oOo**

Kara had gone back into the Fortress after a minute to download information on the Medusa virus to bring back to the DEO. She didn't speak to the record of her father. She couldn't even meet its eyes. First her mother had known about Krypton's looming doom and done nothing about, silencing all who tried to tell the truth, even her own sister, and now her father had been an architect of a deadly virus.

More and more, she was starting to understand Lena's determination to distance herself from her brother.

"You don't have to sit there, you know," Alex's voice shook her out of her musings, "Mom and I can handle reverse-engineering the virus."

Kara shifted on the stool she sat on in the corner of the lab.

"I need to see this, at least part of it. I need to see this undone."

"Let her stay for a bit. She's keeping out of our way, at least," Eliza said, "Now, while the molecular analysis is playing out, why don't you tell me what's bothering you, Alex?"

"What?"

"You've been trying to tell me something."

Alex looked to Kara who held her hands up, the rough translation being "You're on your own."

Alex tried to shrug it off, saying no and walking over to another table, but then she stopped and sighed.

"How?"

"Keeping a secret disagrees with you, sweetie."

Alex crossed her arms and refused to look her mother in the eye.

"This isn't like that, Mom."

"Does it have anything to do with Maggie? You mention her a lot."

And something about the way Alex looked at her, so lost and scared, helped Eliza put the last piece in place.

"Oh, my beautiful Alexandra," Eliza said, putting her tablet to the side, "Why is it so hard for you to tell me?"

"I feel like I'm, uh…I'm letting you down…somehow," Alex stuttered.

But Eliza looked at her with such care, and shook her head slightly.

"Why would your being gay ever let me down?"

Alex froze, her train of thought jumping the tracks and exploding. She vaguely heard Kara squeak "I swear, I said nothing!" but her eyes remained on her mother, who continued to gaze at her with a soft expression on her face.

"You…you always wanted me to have a regular life," Alex finally said.

Eliza scoffed slightly.

"Regular how? Alex, look at the life our family has led. Look at me, look at your sister. I don't think you believe I've ever expected you to have a _regular_ life."

Alex didn't answer, so Eliza continued.

"You were always going to be different, Alex. Because you were always exceptional. And I love you, however you are."

Alex nodded, small tears welling up. Eliza brought her into a hug, and jerked her head at Kara to get her in on it.

The three Danvers women relished in the warmth of family for a moment before parting.

"So, anyone else have any secrets they want to share?" Eliza joked.

Kara stiffened slightly, but then relaxed, deciding to toss out a red herring.

"Well, if we're being honest, I've been bisexual since I got here."

This caused Eliza to do a double take.

"What?"

"Yeah, that was my reaction," Alex said, "I came out to her first, only for her to practically shrug. Apparently, it was never a big deal on Krypton, and _us humans_ worry too much about it. It just never came up before."

"I was foster mother to someone from a completely different culture, I really should have seen this coming," Eliza muttered, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Welcome to the new normal, Mom."

 **oOo**

Kara left the two to their work after a while, needing some fresh air. As she gazed at the night sky from the DEO's balcony, she heard someone come up behind her.

"Thought we'd find you out here," came Shanoa's voice, and Kara turned to see her and J'onn.

"It's a great view," J'onn said, "Better than the stalactites at our old office."

Kara laughed lightly.

"Yeah, a bat bit me in the last base."

"Kind of ironic now," Shanoa said, "Speaking of, have you figured that out?"

"A little while ago, but the shift in senses was so disorienting I could barely move. I think I prefer mist anyway."

"I can understand that. I once turned into a wolf near a garbage dump. _That_ was a mistake."

"A wolf?"

"Rarer trait, I don't know if it passed to you."

The two joined her at the railing.

"If you don't mind me saying, you're not brooding as much as I thought you'd be," J'onn said.

"What do you expect me to do?" Kara asked flatly, "Moan about how I always thought my parents were good guys, but now that I know just how dark they were, I'm ashamed to be their daughter? I've been down this road before. My mother knew Krypton was dying and covered it up, turning against her own sister to do it. My aunt became a terrorist, no matter her good intentions, and even tried to take over this planet. She never saw Myriad active, but she still set it up, still intended to rip free will away from all humans. And now, this current crisis, started with my father, because he created a weapon."

"Kara, your parents tried to protect their planet-"

"And I'm sure Lex and Lillian Luthor had good intentions too, but that doesn't excuse what they did, and it doesn't excuse my parents' actions."

Kara sighed.

"Forget it, though. I've long since accepted that my parents' legacy is not as shining as I'd like it to be. And compared to what I am now…well, it's not as heavy, is what I'm saying."

"Still wary of your nature?" Shanoa asked.

"Don't stand there and tell me that you don't regret what you have to do to live, Shanoa."

Shanoa inhaled through her nose.

"I won't look you in the eye and tell you that I didn't have a rough adjustment, despite my husband's help. I can tell you that it does get better. You just have to let it."

"Brooding doesn't suit you," J'onn added, nodding in agreement, "And as for legacies, death isn't your parents' legacy, Kara Zor-El. It's you. And despite how much darkness you have had to wade into, you still shine so bright."

Kara smiled at that, but the good mood was dashed when J'onn hunched over, groaning in pain. She rushed over to him, calling his name, only for him to whirl to her. His eyes were glowing red, his mouth had shifted into sharp teeth, and he growled something in Martian.

Kara was too stunned to react. Shanoa wasn't.

"Snap out of it man!" she shouted, and then she slapped him hard.

He shifted back to his human form, and he groaned against the railing.

"So when were you going to tell us you had a Jekyll and Hyde thing going on?" Shanoa asked, "Or is this demonic possession? Please say yes, I have something special for that."

"Neither," he grunted, "You remember the Parasite incident? M'gann's blood transfusion saved my life, but…it also poisoned me."

He slowly turned to them, a touch of fear in his eyes.

"I'm turning into a White Martian."

"Oh Rao," Kara whispered, "But…Alex and Eliza, they can find a cure, they can fix this—"

"Medusa is the primary mission, I can't have them distracted right now."

"What about me?" Shanoa asked, "I know some blood rituals that might help. Try to purge the White Martian blood from your Green."

"It's probably too late. The White Martian cells are too widespread by now. Can you guarantee your magic will work?"

Shanoa was silent. J'onn shook his head.

"What's important now is Cadmus. Let me end this with them."

"Speaking of," Shanoa said, nodding toward the door inside, where Alex and Eliza could be seen rushing towards them.

"We found out how Cadmus intends to weaponize Medusa," Alex began, and Eliza soon picked up.

"They need a dispersion agent, one not available on our planet, but there is an analogous element, Isotope 454."

"Where are they going to get that?" Kara asked.

"L-Corp. The isotope is manufactured exclusively by them," Alex said.

"If Cadmus gets their hands on it, they'll be able to spread the virus across the entire city," Eliza said, "There's nothing we'll be able to do to stop them."

"And they'll go through anyone to get their hands on it," Kara concluded, before her eyes widened, "Oh Rao, Lena!"

And she was gone in a burst of speed.

 **oOo**

Supergirl arrived just in time to stop a poor security guard from splattering against a wall, and as she let him down, she turned to face Hank Henshaw.

"Nice faceplate. Not enough fake skin to repair the damage?" she mocked.

Henshaw growled and took a step forward.

"Should have known you'd show up."

"You want that isotope, you go through me," Supergirl shot back, cracking her knuckles.

"Gladly," Henshaw replied, his cybernetic eye glowing menacingly.

He surged forward, but Supergirl was faster and rammed into him first.

"Round Two, Henshaw!"

This time, Supergirl didn't take any chances. She knew that Henshaw was strong enough to be a threat, so she kept on her toes, using her superior speed to weave around his blows and nail him when he wasn't expecting it. Just because she didn't like the source didn't mean her now-enhanced speed wasn't an asset, and it was time she started acting like it.

Duck, weave, strike. Supergirl landed two blows to Henshaw's chest before sliding back, away from his retaliatory strike. His eye glowed, and she slipped to side, spinning around him and striking his back. He recovered quickly and tried to grab her, but she danced out of the way.

"Hold still!" he shouted, lashing out.

"Float like a butterfly," she quipped dodging the blow before striking at his elbow and prompting a yell of pain, "Sting like a bee."

As she rammed home a series of quick blows, Henshaw got lucky and grabbed her arm, twisting to throw her against the concrete L-Corp sign in the middle of the foyer.

As Supergirl tried to shake herself back into focus, she heard a familiar heartbeat, now quickening with worry. She turned her head and saw Lena at the other end of the foyer, looking at the proceedings with fear.

She also saw Henshaw hefting the largest part of the shattered sign, and instantly knew what he was going to do.

Supergirl easily outpaced the thrown concrete, stopping in front of Lena and bracing herself, letting the rock shatter against her.

The eyes of the two women locked.

"Run," Kara whispered, and Lena obliged.

Henshaw made a move toward the retreating Lena, his eye glowing brightly, only to be knocked back by a bolt of lightning.

"Learned some new tricks," Supergirl growled, her fingers still sparking, "You won't touch her."

She knew that her fangs were an inch away from popping out, but she stood her ground, making sure that Henshaw knew the boundaries of their fight.

Just then, a SWAT team armed with assault rifles surged into the building, firing on Henshaw. Supergirl saw Maggie in the midst of the police, and knew that Alex had called in some backup and explained the situation.

The bullets did nothing against Henshaw, and Supergirl prepared to enter the fray again.

Suddenly, there was a sound like an electric guitar breaking, and a portal opened above the melee. The shock of the portal's appearance made everything stop, police and Henshaw alike gawking at the phenomena.

But not Supergirl, who surged forward and slammed into Henshaw, knocking him off his feet. As the portal vanished, Henshaw wildly fired a beam from his eye, which ended up slicing right into Maggie's shoulder.

Supergirl rushed to block the downed cop from any more fire, and Henshaw took that opportunity to make his escape, super-speeding away.

"Super-"

"Don't try to talk, that looks bad," Supergirl cut off, pressing her hands against the wound.

Her instincts flared, the smell of blood overpowering, and she realized then that in all the excitement, she hadn't drank any blood for hours.

' _NO! Not now, not Maggie,_ ' she thought to herself, willing the screeching in her head to go away.

She picked Maggie up into her arms.

"If there's anything crazy in that laser, the DEO will be able to tell," she said, "Let's get you patched up."

' _And get me fed before I do something I'll regret,_ ' she thought.

 **oOo**

Kara got Maggie to the DEO medical bay, then excused herself, claiming she needed to 'wash the blood out real quick'. She did, Maggie had bled all over her, but there was another reason, which Shanoa picked up on after Kara stared at her and briefly popped her fangs when no one was looking.

Shanoa met her in the bathroom as she was finishing a speed-wash of her boots.

"Thought you might need this," she said, holding out a blood bag.

"Thanks," Kara said, "I hadn't realized how late it was until Maggie was bleeding on me. It took a lot to not try anything."

"You've got a lot of self-control," Shanoa said as Kara guzzled down the blood, "More than a lot of newbloods I've known. You should be proud of that, if nothing else."

"I wanted to, though," Kara replied, "I was so hungry-"

"But you didn't, and that's what matters. Dealing with the thirst for blood is all about willpower, _mo mhac léinn._ You're doing better with it than you think."

"Still rather not have it."

Kara finished the blood quickly, and walked out to a conversation between Winn, J'onn, and Eliza.

"I don't think Zor-El or anyone else working on Medusa even considered a cure," Winn was saying.

"What about Lena Luthor?" Eliza asked.

"What about her?" Kara asked, making her presence known.

"Lena's mother took the Kryptonian virus and synthesized it on Earth. That takes smarts and resources. If Lena is working with her-"

"Then Lillian wouldn't have needed her lackey to steal the isotope," Shanoa interjected.

"Shanoa's right," Kara agreed, "Lena was shocked to see Henshaw, he would have killed her with that concrete."

"Eh, the Luthors are pretty good actors," Winn grumbled, "Or, well, sociopaths. Either way, they know how to fool people."

"No, no, I looked into Lena's eyes. She doesn't know anything about Cadmus, or her mother. I know it."

"Would you be willing to stake lives on it?" J'onn asked.

Kara didn't answer, she just shook her head and headed for the balcony. She took off and headed straight for L-Corp, her mind awhirl.

Lena couldn't be part of this. She couldn't. Kara knew her. Lena was good. Lena wouldn't willingly be part of something that would kill hundreds, even thousands of innocent lives.

But what if she was wrong?

No, no, she wasn't.

But…

"NO," Kara growled, "Lena isn't like that."

She sped towards L-Corp alighting on Lena's balcony and opening the door.

Lena looked up from her tablet and smiled.

"You know, that door's not really an entrance," she joked, but her smile faded at the look on Supergirl's face, "Is something wrong?"

Supergirl started to say something, but shook her head.

"Is everything okay here?" she asked.

"Fine, thanks to you. You saved the lives of countless numbers of my employees, and mine as well."

"Well, now I need your help. And I don't know if you'll like it."

Lena tilted her head slightly in confusion.

"Seriously, what's wrong?"

Supergirl took a deep breath before speaking.

"I need help finding your mother."

"Pardon?" Lena asked, confusion all over her face.

"Your mother…is behind Cadmus. She's their leader."

Lena stared at her. Supergirl began to pace a bit, not quite willing to look her in the eye.

"You're lying."

The accusation, soft on Lena's voice, broke Kara's pacing.

"I'm not," she said, her own voice strong, "I didn't want to be the one to tell you this, but it's the truth. She's behind all the anti-alien attacks recently. She kidnapped me, tortured me. And now she possesses a virus that could wipe out the entire alien population of National City. I need you to help me find her, so that she doesn't hurt any more innocent people."

Lena's face went stony.

"You know, I thought you were different," she said, her voice low but piercing, "You wear that symbol on your chest and everyone thinks you're good. How many times did your cousin put on that high-and-mighty costume and come after Lex?"

Lena took a sharp breath and pierced Supergirl with a look of distain.

"My mother is no saint, but you come in here and accuse her of being the Devil incarnate? How long before you come after me?"

The words were like a dagger to her chest, but Kara tried to remain strong.

"I know what it's like to be disillusioned by our parents," she told Lena, "But I'm a pretty good judge of character…and you are not like your mother. She is cold and dangerous, and you are too good and too smart to follow in her path."

Supergirl took a few steps closer, looking right into Lena's eyes so that no part of her message could be missed.

"Be your own hero."

But Lena continued to be impassive, picking her tablet back up and telling Supergirl that she could leave the same way she came in.

Kara felt her heart stop, but she made her way over to the balcony door, the dismissal clear. And then a little voice, the same that had been silently pleading for believing in Lena, screamed out not to let it end there.

So Kara did what she had done many times in the past when things seemed bleak. She took a leap of faith.

"I never thought of you as another Luthor," she said with care, "I want to trust you, Lena. Give me a sign that you're not stepping into darkness, please."

Lena paused in her typing, and for just a second, Kara could have sworn she saw Lena's face soften before the stone rose back up.

"If the world will only see me as _black_ as Lex was, what's the point of giving trust to any _body._ "

It took a second to process Lena's words, but when she did, Kara felt relief flood through her body. But she kept herself together and replied, "I understand _completely._ "

And then she left. It was only when she was a mile away from L-Corp and high above the city that she let out explosion of relief.

" _Thank you, Merciful Rao,_ " she exclaimed in her native tongue.

 **oOo**

The missile pointed up menacingly. One could almost say it was eager to release its deadly payload. Lillian certainly was, but she had given the launch key to Lena, one last test of loyalty.

Supergirl and J'onn touched down, the radioactive signature of the isotope having led there. Kara didn't spare a glance at J'onn, despite her earlier misgivings on him joining this mission given the deadliness of the virus. Instead, her eyes were on Lena.

"Don't do it, Lena!"

Outside, her voice was authoritarian, as was expected. Inside, she was begging for this to end, praying to Rao to have been right.

Lena's face was like a glacier, her voice cold as the arctic winds.

"Why not? I'm a Luthor."

And she turned the key.

Supergirl barely wasted a second, launching herself after the missile. Meanwhile, J'onn faced the two Luthors.

"You two are finished."

"You're wrong about that," Lillian replied, jerking her head to the side.

Stepping from the shadows came Hank Henshaw, but he wasn't alone. There was another cyborg with him, the top of his face covered by metal plating.

"You'd be surprised at how many loyal Cadmus agents are willing to remake themselves to fight against the alien scourge. Granted, we don't have the resources to give them all the Henshaw treatment, but still…"

"You brought two cyborgs?" Lena asked, giving her mother a look.

"I wanted to be thorough."

But before the fight could begin, a series of light tones echoed through the air. A woman walked around the corner, playing a jaunty tune from a wooden flute.

"Hello boys," Shanoa grinned, "This looks fun. Mind if I join?"

Henshaw looked to his fellow and said "Take care of this."

"Gladly," the other cyborg said, and lifted his palm to reveal a glowing light.

However, the laser burst was dodged with inhuman speed.

"That's no way to do it," Shanoa frowned, putting her flute away, "Let an old Irishwoman show you the proper way to dance."

The cyborg fired again, but Shanoa turned to mist and let the attack pass through her.

When she coalesced again, she was wearing a flowing dress of dark blue, with slits up the sides and armor about the torso and shins. Her arms were unencumbered, but covered from wrist to shoulder in intricate black tattoos, the inked images looking like elaborate sleeves. The tattoos themselves were all circular, but inlaid with different symbols.

One of the tattoos flashed, and a thin rapier appeared in her hand, the metal black as night.

"Come on, lad. Step up."

She sped forward and pierced his side, then danced around his retaliating punch. She spun around him, her rapier transforming into a broadsword, which she sliced into his back with. He howled in pain and spun around, but she let go of her sword and misted around his blow. The cloud reformed above him, and she came down with a war hammer strike, which just barely missed him.

He backpedaled, even as several throwing knives appeared between her fingers.

"What's the matter?" she asked, throwing them, "Can't dance?"

The knives embedded themselves deep into him, and blood began to flow from his chest. But his cyborg body kept him going, and he fired a series of lasers at Shanoa. She spun, leapt, and misted around the fire. Her cloud form surged toward him and she emerged from it, a wicked scythe appearing in her hands. She brought it down, but he reared back, the blade just nicking his chest.

"Death comes for you, mortal," she hissed.

She snapped her fingers, and a lightning bolt shot forth, striking him hard. Before he could recover, a fireball rammed home. He screamed as he burned, but then the fire vanished as quickly as it came…

And he found himself staring at an enormous fist of stone.

"FORE!"

The fist struck like a truck, launching him across the port. Shanoa followed in the form of mist, arriving where he had landed.

"No Lillian, no Henshaw. Just you and me," she said.

"No…no more," he moaned, his metallic parts sparking and his flesh cut and burned.

"Oh, there will be more," she growled, popping her fangs.

He squealed at the sight of a growling vampire and begged for mercy.

"Mercy?" Shanoa asked, "You conspire to horrifically kill hundreds of innocents, simply out of willful ignorance and hate. No, no mercy for you. _Sruthán i ifreann_."

Then she shot forward with a deep growl.

He barely had time to scream.

While that was going on, J'onn traded blows with Henshaw.

"You stole my life," Henshaw growled.

J'onn struck hard, knocking off the metal faceplate and revealing the cybernetic components.

"You left a life to be filled," J'onn spat, "And I think I've done better with mine than yours."

The two went at each other again, punching and shoving with the force of colliding trains.

"You're a monster," Henshaw shouted, grabbing at J'onn's throat, "and I'm going to send you back to hell."

"You first," J'onn shot back, chopping at Henshaw's neck, forcing him to release his hold.

Henshaw staggered back, and J'onn's eyes began to glow.

"But if you really want to see a monster…"

J'onn shifted and grew, soon towering over the cyborg. The titan with mottled green and white skin shot a clawed hand forth, grabbing Henshaw and thrashing him around. Henshaw was shaken, slammed, punched, and then thrown into some shipping containers like a ragdoll.

But to his credit, he got back up and lunged for the Martian again.

In the skies above National City, Supergirl raced toward the missile. With her increased speed, she could have caught up to it, but she was busy scanning the missile itself, trying to see…

 _There!_

She fought down a grin and continued to chase the missile, keeping a careful eye on it.

Finally, just as she saw something change in the inner workings, she dashed to the side, getting out of the way of the explosion.

The sky seemed to burn as the payload of the missile spread through the air. Red ash rained down everywhere. The phenomena could be seen for miles.

It was almost like a fireworks display…and about as dangerous to the viewer.

Supergirl cackled in glee.

"She did it. She did it!"

But there was still work to do, so she pulled herself together and shot back to the port. She got there just in time to spot Henshaw gaining the upper hand in his fight with a mutated J'onn.

"You might be an alien," he was shouting, "But I'm Cyborg Superman!"

And then Henshaw was kissing the dirt, Supergirl plowing into him at near-Mach speed.

"You might be a cyborg," she said to the prone man, "But you are _no_ Superman."

The red rain reached the port and J'onn turned back to his human form, the name of his late wife on his lips as he closed his eyes and waited for the end.

An end which never came.

Seeing this, Lillian gawked in confusion.

"He should be dead. All aliens should be dead."

And then Supergirl was right in front of her, finger an inch away from her nose.

"PUNKED!"

"You really should see the look on your face," came Lena's voice.

Lillian turned, her face still stuck in a rictus of shock, to see the very smug look on her daughter's face. And then everything became clear.

"You swapped out the isotope. Made the virus inert."

"I did," she replied, before smiling wider at the sound of sirens, "I also called the police."

J'onn looked at Kara, stunned.

"You knew?"

"Sorry for not telling, but I had to make it look good so Lillian had no chance of escape."

She then zipped over to Lena, holding out her fist.

"C'mon, top shelf, blow it up."

Lena only at the vaguest idea what she was doing and her fist bump and explosion sound were weak compared to Supergirl's, but she was smiling all the same.

"And sorry for the Ice Queen routine in my office, I was worried she had it bugged."

"Valid," Supergirl said as the cops pulled up, "I wish someone had taken a picture of Lillian's face when she realized her virus was a dud."

"I thought about it, but it seemed tacky. Regardless, always a pleasure working with you, Supergirl."

"Don't be so modest," Kara said loudly as J'onn and the cops cuffed Lillian, "All I did was chase a defective missile to play a part. You were the one who made a plan to set a terrorist up for failure. A spectacular one, may I add. You saved every alien in National City. So from all of us, thank you, Lena Luthor, for being a hero."

Lena gave Supergirl a look like she wasn't expecting the thanks, and then she smiled.

"It…it means a lot, hearing you say that."

Kara felt warm looking at the smile. She wished Lena smiled like that more.

 **oOo**

Kara continued to think about the grateful smile that had filled Lena's face as she rapidly typed up an article. It was nearly finished, detailing the Cadmus threat and naming Lena Luthor as the one who stopped it, saving countless lives in the process.

She was on the last paragraph when her phone rang.

"Eliza?"

" _Kara, where are you?"_

"Typing up an article. People need to know that Lena was the one who saved everyone."

" _Well, that's all well and good, but you should be here. I managed to reverse engineer the Medusa virus to target certain cell structures. I'm going to use it to purse the White Martian cells from J'onn."_

"What? How'd you get that done so fast?"

" _Actually, Shanoa told me about the White Martian stuff after you left for L-Corp the first time. I've been cooking up a solution on the back burner since. Which the molecular analysis of the virus, Alex and I were able to whip something up. I've already tested it on J'onn's blood, and the results look promising."_

"That's amazing!"

" _We're lucky the virus is so easily weaponizable. I was able to turn it against a common enemy. I figured you would want to be here when I applied the treatment to J'onn."_

"Be there in five."

Kara finished her last few sentences and opened her e-mail. She typed up a quick message of "This is a hot one!" to Snapper and attached the article to it.

"Why can't all days be like this?"


	8. Invasion!

_WHEW! This took a while to get through. But, here it is. The entirety of the Invasion crossover._

 _Well, okay, I cut the Arrow bits. Kara didn't have much impact on that part anyway. But in return, you get some extra material, more interactions with the other heroes, and a very special scene with Alex at the end._

 _What can I say, except: You're welcome._

 _…_

 _I regret nothing._

* * *

 **Supergirl: Blood Ties**

Chapter 8

Invasion!

Kara fished her apartment keys out of her purse, softly singing a little ditty that Shanoa had been singing earlier.

" _Gráinne Mhaol_ …man, that is catchy."

She finally got her door open, only to see two people in her apartment. She froze for a millisecond before recognizing one of them.

" _Barry?_ "

The lanky man waved lightly.

"Hi, Kara."

"I KNEW IT!" she shouted, all but flinging her groceries onto the table, "I knew that was you! I knew it was you in that…weird space portal thing!"

She rushed forward and gave him a quick hug.

"It's so good to see you!"

"You too," Barry said, hugging her back, "Yeah, it took a couple of tries to get here. Oh, and this is my friend, Cisco."

"Well, friend is a loose term, we work together," the Hispanic man added lightly, offering his hand.

"There's a story there, and I'll be hearing it later," Kara replied, shaking the offered hand.

"I have to say it, this is a nice universe you've got here."

"Thank you. Odd compliment, but thank you."

"It's an odd life," Barry said, "So, you remember last year, when I helped you out and you promised to do the same for me one day?"

"What are we up against?" Kara asked, slipping into seriousness.

"Alien invasion on our Earth," Cisco said, "Really big and bad guys. We're putting together a team. Barry said he knew a ringer."

"You're looking at her," Kara replied, a little smug.

"So you'll help?" Barry asked.

"Give me a minute to pack an overnight bag."

Kara super-sped to her room, just to show off. She heard Cisco yelp in shock.

"You did that on purpose!" came Barry's yell.

"Might've!" she called back.

Kara then pulled out her phone and dialed Alex, pressing it to her shoulder as she packed. She quickly explained the situation to her sister, asking to cover for her for a few days.

" _After the chaos of Medusa, we've all earned a break. You sure you want to spend yours fighting more aliens?"_

"A chance to get back to basics? No politics, no terrorism, no…"

Kara dropped her voice.

"Vampires? Heck yes. I need this, Alex."

" _I guess. You want me to come? Or Shanoa? She was a big help during the Medusa thing."_

"NO. This is a very simple alien invasion story. I do not want to taint this with anything about vampires. If Shanoa comes, my little blood problem is going to come out, and that's the last thing I need right now. I don't need anyone on the other Earth freaking out."

" _Barry doesn't strike me as a guy who freaks easily, if what you've said is true."_

"Maybe, but I don't know his friends. I am not letting this vampire thing ruin this mission for me, so it stays in the closet. And as for you, the DEO needs you riding herd on the Medusa remnants, they don't need me underfoot. And if there's something that needs to be punched, J'onn or Shanoa can handle it. Please Alex, I _need_ this. Simple evil alien story, just like old times."

" _Alright. But be careful, okay?"_

"When am I not?"

" _You want that list in chronological or alphabetical order?"_

The sisters bid each other good-bye, and Kara walked back out to meet the boys in full Supergirl regalia. Then she remembered something.

"Hey guys, could you turn around for a minute."

They did so, and Kara hurriedly packed a small red lunch cooler.

"Okay, done."

"Nice outfit," Cisco said, "Doesn't look like it protects much."

"I'm practically invulnerable. I don't need much armor."

"Cape's going to make you stand out."

"I can fly pretty fast. It helps with my aerodynamics."

Kara floated up a bit and spun, letting the cape flare.

"And it looks good, too. Any more questions before we go?"

"Yeah, what's with the red box?"

Kara touched back down, her face stony.

"If you must know, it's a special dietary supplement. Please don't ask about it. It's…a sensitive topic."

"Understood," Barry said, interrupting Cisco's follow-up question, "We'll leave it alone."

Cisco shrugged and raised his gloved hand. Blue waves radiated from it, and a breach between universes opened.

"So you made the portal?" Kara asked.

"It's a relatively new skill," Cisco said.

"Well, you need to work on you aim. Your first attempt opened right above my Thanksgiving dinner."

"Well aren't we the Queen of Sass?"

"I warned you," Barry said, "She's a living sunbeam, but she can burn just as easily as warm."

"Flattery will get you nowhere, Flash."

"Ladies first."

 **oOo**

The swirl of color and light abated, and Kara stumbled slightly.

"Okay, that was cool."

She dropped her bags and looked around. The hanger they were in was mostly empty, a few shipping crates here and there. An area had been cleared for people to gather, and it looked like they were the last ones to arrive.

The three walked over to the group, Barry greeting them.

"Barry, I thought you were bringing an alien," said a gruff and grizzled man.

"And, yeah, we did," Barry replied, "Everybody, this is my friend, Kara Danvers, or as she's known on her Earth, Supergirl."

Kara waved lightly, hiding her nerves behind a bright smile.

"What makes her so super?" asked the younger black man.

"Well-"

"I got this, Barry," Kara said, lifting off.

She raced around the hanger at high speed, picking up a discarded iron bar on the way. When she touched down, she presented the bar with a flourish.

"Ta-da! It's my crest," she said, holding up the bent bar to her chest to show how it matched her symbol.

"I'm convinced," said the older black man.

"My money was on you burning that into the ground with your heat vision," Barry said.

"My heat vision's been…fritzy lately," she dithered, "I don't like to talk about it."

"Pretty and strong," said a blonde woman, "I like her already."

Barry quickly named everyone and Kara went around the room, testing her new knowledge.

"Okay, let's see if I got this. Oliver?"

"Green Arrow," said the gruff man.

"Dig…"

"Spartan," said the older black man.

"Thea…"

"Speedy," said the slight woman, "I didn't pick it."

"And…Sara."

"White Canary," said the woman, giving her a wink.

"Jax and Professor Stein."

"Firestorm," the younger black man and the old man chorused.

"Ray."

"Palmer," said the man, jerking out of his musings, "Oh, the Atom."

Kara shook off the thought that he reminded her of her cousin for some reason.

"And Mick?" she continued.

The scary-looking man looked up from his sandwich.

"Hmm? Oh, Heat Wave."

"Right, and…"

Kara dashed over to the others seated by a computer console and a truck full of tech.

"Iris, Caitlin, and Felicity!"

Felicity gave a light whoop, and Kara spun briefly in celebration before looking at Caitlin.

"And you have cold powers, but you can't use them?"

"That's right," Caitlin said, her voice a little sad.

"You have powers?" Felicity asked with surprise.

"It's a long story."

Iris spoke briefly to Barry, and Kara tried not to eavesdrop as Oliver called the meeting. Cisco pulled an image up on the large screen.

"These are the Dominators," Barry said, "We don't know much about them-"

"Except they're really strong," Kara interjected, "I recognize that species, I heard a lot of stories about them when I was a kid. They must exist in several universes. They came to my planet before I was born. They did experiments on a lot of people, killed a lot more. We managed to drive them off and they never returned to Krypton, but it was really dicey. To hear my aunt tell it, the Dominator invasion was the main driving force behind the expansion of the Military Guild."

"Think she was exaggerating?" asked Jax.

"She was a general, so no. Krypton was antsy about alien invasions for a long time afterward, even created whole new weapons in case of another."

"Like?" Sara asked.

"Well, my father made a weaponized virus that targeted non-Kryptonian physiologies…"

"That's cold," Mick said.

"I never said I agreed with it."

"What else can you tell us?" Oliver asked.

"Not all that much, actually," Kara shrugged, "A lot of them had psychic gifts of varying degrees, and they had pretty advanced tech. They had to just to have made a dent in Krypton, we were no slouches in that area. From what Aunt Astra told me, they liked to get their hands dirty, though, so I don't know if you'll see more than a few blasters in the field. I wish I could tell you more, but Mother didn't like it when Astra talked about her work. I always thought it was just a sister thing, but…well…"

"I can get that," Sara said, a bit of sadness creeping into her voice.

"Well, if these things have super-strength, I think we should use Kara as a stand-in for training," Oliver said.

"Since when is Robin Hood calling the shots?" Mick asked.

Oliver glared at him, but Jax stepped in.

"What I think Mick is trying to say is that it would be nice if we knew who was calling the shots around here."

"Maybe we should take a vote," Ray offered, "Choose a leader, someone we can all trust."

"Well, I trust Oliver," Cisco said, "He's got my vote."

Kara noticed Barry looking a little hurt, but Oliver spoke up again.

"Appreciate that Cisco, but Barry put us all together, it should be him."

Barry and Oliver traded looks before Barry cleared his throat.

"Right, well, first order of business, Oliver's got a good idea. You don't mind, do you Kara?"

"Fire away, I'm made of steel," Kara said lightly.

"Great, everyone suit up."

As everyone parted, Barry pulled Oliver and Kara aside.

"Really quick, I was excited about the two of you guys meeting each other. Oliver was the first person to train me, so…"

"Really?" Kara asked, "Well, you did a really good job."

"That's 'cause I didn't hold back," Oliver replied gruffly, "I shot him."

Barry looked pained and muttered "Why'd you have to bring that up?" but Oliver continued.

"You can't hold back either."

"Are you sure about that?" Kara asked, a cold sensation settling in her gut, "I just met these people, I don't really want to-"

"These people need to understand that this isn't going to be easy. Don't hold back, especially against me. Full strength, you hear?"

Oliver made to walk away, but Kara quickly grabbed his shoulder. She let some of her strength creep in, just enough so that he'd pay attention.

"Oliver, I tried to be nice, but there's a bigger reason why I don't want to go full-stop in a training scenario. If I were to punch you, right here, right now, at full strength, _you'd disintegrate._ "

Oliver did a double take, and Barry's jaw dropped.

"Yeah. My teeth alone can bite through steel. I'm not joking. So, I'll measure my strength here so that everyone gets a feel for this weight class. But I won't go full out when it would be dangerous to do so."

Kara let her arm drop, and Oliver nodded.

"Right. Okay, whatever you think is best, it's your muscles. Thanks for clearing that up."

"Thanks for understanding. And sorry for being blunt, but I've spent a lot of time mastering my strength, and I don't like when people make light of that."

"I'd rather you be blunt than dance around and never get anywhere."

Oliver walked off, and Kara took a breath.

"I don't think he liked me very much."

"He's like that with everyone, he'll warm up to you. You okay?" Barry asked.

"When I first landed on Earth, or, well, my Earth, I didn't have as much control. I broke everything. But the thing I was most afraid of breaking was people. I worked hard to avoid that, and like I said, I don't like when people make light of it."

"If you're sure…"

"I'm fine, Barry, go suit up."

Barry left, and Kara went over to where she dropped her bags, finding Sara looking at them. Kara rushed over and picked them up.

"I didn't peek if that's what you're worried about," Sara said, "I'm guessing you need a spot to stick that."

"Somewhere private would be nice, yeah," Kara replied, "I thought this might take a few days, so I packed accordingly."

"And the cooler?"

"Dietary supplement, don't ask."

"It's your stuff, I won't pry," Sara said, waving her hand, "I cased this hanger while we were waiting, I have an idea where you can crash."

"You cased the hanger?"

"I'm an ex-assassin, some instincts don't go away. And I was bored."

Sara led her along to the rear wall, where a shipping container stood.

"This might do. Think it's empty."

"It is."

Sara looked at her oddly, and Kara gave a smug smile.

"X-ray vision."

"So you could see through anything?" Sara asked, her voice low.

"Just about."

"Even, say…clothes?"

Kara choked and blushed heavily.

"Oh, nononono, I would never-"

"I wouldn't blame you. I'd certainly have fun with that power," Sara smiled.

Kara just got redder and redder. Sara burst out laughing.

"Relax, I'm messing with you. I'll leave you to get settled, I need to change anyway."

Sara started to walk away, but then stopped and looked back.

"No peeking."

Kara sputtered, and Sara continued on her way, still laughing.

Kara finally shook herself back into focus and opened the container. There was a thin layer of dust, but she was able to blow it all further back, and she set down her stuff. Resolving to ask someone about a cot, she headed back to the main area, where some people had already gathered back up.

"You didn't change?" she asked Mick.

"Not much for fancy costumes," he said brandishing his weapon with a manic grin, "This is all I need."

"He used to run with criminals, don't mind him," Spartan said, checking his weapon.

"You got anything stronger?" Kara asked, "I'm bulletproof."

"And these are rubber rounds anyway. I just want to measure my speed and accuracy against you. I plan to pack stronger rounds when we go up against the Dominators."

"Fair enough."

Caitlin walked by, and Kara got her attention.

"You sure you don't want in on this? Freezing things might be useful."

Caitlin shook her head and said, "My powers come with a price, one I'm not willing to pay. There's…a darkness there."

Kara inhaled sharply and quietly replied, "I get it."

Her mind flashed to the glint of fangs accompanied by a screech.

Caitlin left, and Kara took a few breaths, trying to calm herself. She didn't need those thoughts, not now. This was a simple hero team-up. They were fighting evil aliens. It was simple.

It was simple…

 **oOo**

Professor Stein had left with Caitlin to attend to something, so Firestorm couldn't take part in the training. It didn't matter much, since nothing anyone had could really hurt Supergirl. Barry's lightning toss might've, but she saw it coming.

"Need to speed up that wind-up, Barry," she called.

As per her own wishes, she kept her strength to simple level, always just a step above who she was fighting so they got a feel for fighting stronger opponents. She went hand-to-hand with Team Arrow and White Canary, and stepped it up with the others, including Mick at his request to "stop sandbagging me."

When he got knocked on his butt, he started to regret it.

As she tossed Atom aside, she was about to compliment his shrink feint when she heard an exchange between Thea and Sara.

"She is a badass."

"Yeah, it's kind of hot."

She was so stunned by this that she ended up taking a full blast of Mick's heat gun. But she pulled herself together and weaved around Oliver's shots and Dig's gunfire before touching down to catch Sara's stick.

"I heard that, by the way."

"Is that okay?" Sara asked with a grin.

Kara responded by using the stick as leverage to toss her away.

After a few minutes, they all took a break.

"I don't feel like that was very helpful," Mick grunted.

"I think it was," Kara said, touching down, "The hand-to-hand fighting needs to focus more on throws and takedowns, using their opponent's strength and weight against them rather than doing your own damage. Barry's lightning throw sped up just a bit, and the Dominators certainly can't hit what they can't catch. If Oliver and Thea pack explosive arrows and Dig armor-piercing rounds, that'll really hurt a Dominator. A face full of fire is great for distractions so someone else can nail a target, and if you watch your footing and how your opponent reacts, you can take one down yourself. And Ray's shrink feints are great, especially when he throws his weight behind an enlarging punch."

Everyone stared at her.

"Do you not agree?"

"No, that was actually really good," said Oliver, "How-"

"I've been paying attention to how you all react. When Professor Stein gets back, we can start adding Firestorm to the mix."

Oliver shook his head and smiled slightly.

"Aren't we full of surprises?"

 **oOo**

Training continued through the rest of the day, stopping for rests occasionally. Between sessions, Kara began to brainstorm with Oliver and Barry, adding her perspective of being the target to stratagems. When Sara successfully floored Kara, everyone cheered, feeling like progress was finally being made…until Kara lashed her foot out and brought Sara down to the ground.

"And here I thought the ex-assassin would know to ensure an opponent isn't getting back up, via knockouts or otherwise," Kara said smugly, causing Thea and Felicity to howl at the burn.

Then, as the evening came, something happened. Cisco pulled Barry aside to talk to him, and the conversation left Cisco so agitated he didn't watch his volume.

"You still don't think you should tell them?"

"Tell us what?" Sara asked, bringing everyone's attention to them.

Cisco gestured for Barry to speak, his eyes full of anger. Barry sighed and spoke up.

"Jax and Professor Stein found a message from me in the future saying that, right now, I can't be trusted."

"And why would future you say that?" Sara pressed.

"I think because…I went back in time and changed the timeline, and now things here are different than before I left…including some of your lives."

"Some of our lives? Like who?" Kara asked, not sure why she was worried since she was from a different universe and, technically, outside this one's timeline. Maybe it was the suddenly darker atmosphere…

"Cisco…Caitlin…Wally…Dig…"

"Me?" the man in question asked, "Why, what happened?"

Barry couldn't speak, so Oliver walked over to Dig and quietly answered. Kara picked it up, she couldn't help it.

"Apparently, you had a daughter."

Her stomach plummeted, and the look on Dig's face didn't help.

"I had a daughter, Barry?"

Barry could barely look him in the eye.

"Baby John _was_ Baby Sara."

Adult Sara swore softly, and Dig looked torn between crying and vomiting.

"So, wait, let me get this straight," he managed, "you just…erased my daughter from my life."

Barry nodded.

"You can't go back and just _change_ things like that, Barry!" Sara snarled, "You know how hard it is for me to not alter events? To bring my sister back? But I don't, because I know the implications."

Sara waved to Dig as an example.

"All those aberrations we spent the last eight months traveling though time, trying to correct," Ray spoke up, "You just decided it was okay for you to create your own?"

"We should have told 'em before," Jax said.

"You should have," Sara growled, "God knows just how much damage he did just because he missed his Mommy."

"Okay, that's enough," Supergirl shouted, "Can't you see he feels horrible about it?"

"Feeling horrible doesn't bring my brother back," Cisco grunted.

"I gotta go with him on this," Mick said, "That was a messed-up thing you did, Allen."

"So you're taking this side?" Sara said to Kara, "After what you just heard, you seriously-"

"Alex."

Sara blinked awkwardly.

"What?"

"That's my sister's name. Alex. When I got to Earth, I was alone. My planet was gone, I watched it die. The only other Kryptonian, my cousin, couldn't take care of me, so he brought me to live with a family he trusted, the Danvers. They took me in, cared for me as if I were their own. I'd do anything to protect them. And if something happened to Alex…I don't doubt that I would storm any hell to get her back."

"This is different," Sara said, "Every time I even think about using time travel to bring Laurel back, I stop and think about it. Would bringing her back be worth killing another? Would she ever forgive me that was the case? Barry ripped time apart to try and change his past, and instead, it changed all of us."

"And he's already punishing himself for it."

Further conversation was halted by Felicity's cry.

"Guys, it's Lyla. The President's been kidnapped by the Dominators, she needs us now."

Barry took a breath.

"Okay, you guys go, I'm going to sit this one out. You have Supergirl, she's just as fast as I am. Get the President, we can talk about this later."

The others filed away, but Kara went to Barry.

"I'll see what I can do."

"I can't ask you to cover for my mistakes," he said.

"You aren't. I'm doing it anyway. You're my friend, Barry. I have your back. Rao knows if I were in your position, I'd try for a reset button myself. I lost my mother too…"

Kara turned and walked away, noticing that Oliver was staying back as well. The two traded a look, and he growled.

"Guys, hey!"

His shout echoed, catching everyone's attention.

"This is crazy. Everyone's going, including Barry. I'm not going without him."

"Then you're not going, Oliver," Dig grunted.

"Okay, everyone take a breath," Kara said, "Cool it down, gosh. Oliver, it's okay, I'll go with them. We'll get the President, you stay here with Barry."

Oliver didn't look happy, but he nodded.

 **oOo**

"You know, it's not like he intended to change everyone's lives, it just happened."

"He got sad and careless, Skirt. Doesn't mean he ain't guilty," Mick grunted.

Kara rounded on him.

"What did you call me?"

"Skirt. Why, you wanna do something about it?"

"Mick, you realize she could kill you with her pinkie, right?" Thea asked.

"You call me Supergirl or Kara, or I call you Fire-butt," Kara said flatly.

Mick looked at her for a minute.

"Fair."

"How'd you get the name Heat Wave anyway?"

"I burned my family alive and I like to light things on fire."

Kara blinked owlishly and said, "That's a…colorful backstory."

"My shrink thinks so."

"Just ignore him, we do," said Sara, "President's tracker leads here, you see anything?"

Kara peered through the wall of the old building briefly.

"Yeah, he's in there."

"How can you tell?" asked Ray.

"X-ray vision," Kara and Sara said simultaneously.

"So, you can see everyone's bits with those peepers of yours," Mick asked, grinning at the idea.

"Cut it out, I've already driven off that bridge once today."

"When was that?" asked Firestorm.

"I found out about it earlier and was teasing her about it, can we focus?" Sara deadpanned.

The group entered the building, keeping an eye out. It was dark, and the wind blew through the broken windows ominously.

"Look, the President!" Spartan called out.

A figure in chains shuffled into view.

"Please, get me out of here," he cried out as they rushed forward.

"Wait, something doesn't feel right," Firestorm said.

Supergirl held up her hand, having heard hissing noises.

"Guys, something's coming."

Everyone began to look around nervously. It was Canary who spotted it first, pointing up and shouting.

A Dominator lumbered into view on the upper catwalk, hissing loudly.

Speedy, Spartan, and Atom aimed their weapons at it.

"Release the President," Supergirl ordered.

" _We knew you would come,_ " came a voice like a dagger across stone.

"Did you guys hear that?" asked Atom, "Because I heard it in my head."

"Yeah, we heard it," Canary replied.

"Well, if nobody else is freaked out about it, far be it for me to panic."

"You don't need to harm him to get whatever it is you want from us," Supergirl said, as the group slowly edged toward the President, "Release him and nothing will happen to you."

" _He's not who we want._ "

The Dominator aimed a gauntlet-clad hand at the President. There was a flash of light, and the man turned to dust.

"It's a trap!" Spartan shouted, but it was too late.

A red light covered them, and they felt something, like a dagger piercing into their brains.

Kara realized what it was. She worked with a psychic, even if he had trouble getting into her mind. She knew what a telepathic presence felt like. Except this wasn't nearly as friendly as J'onn. She felt her body start to feel numb, sensations and control draining away, being stripped from her as the spike grew more painful.

She heard the growling of her vampiric side, angry at the intruder. She had enough mental bandwidth to recognize the utter horror that would be unleashed with her as a Dominator weapon, all power and bloodlust.

And then she got an idea. Shanoa had taught her a spell that could cast someone into a deep sleep, but Kara had had trouble with it, never fully mastered it. But there was no choice. It was either try or give them an unstoppable, blood-crazed berserker.

She put her palms on her chest and spoke the words.

Sara saw Kara collapse like a broken marionette, and feared the worst.

"Ka…Kara…aaaahhhh!"

She screamed and everything went black.

 **oOo**

 _What of this one?_

 _Leave her. We can make due with these ones to hunt down the others, including Barry Allen._

 _A shame. I can sense great power in her._

 _A ship is on its way. We can load her in it along with Barry Allen, then study her at our leisure._

Kara's dreams were filled with screeching. The faces of the Dominators swam in and out of focus. She could feel their claws trying to dig into her mind, but she resisted with everything she could muster.

Her subconscious was protected, sheltered under a darkness like the mantled wings of a bat. Anything that got close was dealt with.

The vampire was protecting her.

The screeches of the Dominators war with the clicks and growls of the vampire. Fang fights fang, pale hand fights claw and wing. The fury of domination crashes against the thirst for blood.

But she was weakening. She knew it. She wouldn't be able to keep it up forever.

 **oOo**

"Oh, what a lovely night," Green Arrow groused as he and Flash ducked behind a barrier.

"Something's not right," Flash said.

"Of course it isn't, our teammates are being mind-controlled!"

"Then where's Kara?"

The Arrow was brought up short at that.

"Supergirl is the biggest gun we have," Flash continued, "If everyone else is mind-controlled, where is she? Don't you think the Dominators would have sent her out if they had her?"

"What if she's immune?"

"Or something else happened. Either way—"

A blur of yellow lightning zoomed in, knocking Heat Wave, Speedy, Spartan, and White Canary off their feet before slipping behind the barrier and joining Flash and Arrow.

"Wally?"

"Kid Flash. Hey, you guys needed help!" the younger speedster exclaimed.

"Kid's not wrong," Green Arrow growled, "Incoming!"

Flash grabbed Arrow and ran, Wally close behind. A fireball slammed into the spot where they were, and Firestorm continued his bombing run.

From their new position, Green Arrow fired an explosive arrow at Firestorm, knocking him out of the air, while Flash called their mission control.

"Guys, the comm we gave to Supergirl, triangulate the position."

" _Okay, and…got it! The old salt mines. There's a weird signal coming from there, too."_

Flash nodded.

"Okay, if Kara wasn't affected by the control, she could still be where it happened. I'm willing to bet it's some kind of machine enhancing the Dominators' psychic powers, so if I smash it, this'll all be over."

Blasts from Atom peppered their location, and Wally grimaced.

"Oliver and I can handle this for now, but whatever you're going to do, do it fast."

"Fast I can do. Be careful."

"Barry, running out of arrows here!"

Oliver's growling cry spurred him into action, and the Flash raced across the landscape.

He reached the salt mines in record time, fear for his friend and worry for the others spurring him on. Entering the building, he looked around at super-speed.

Kara was on the ground, being looked over by two Dominators. A machine was off to the side, the large orb in the center glowing a hellish red.

"Big, scary, red pulses. Gonna go out on a limb and guess 'mind control device'."

He raced around in a tight circle, building up as much of a charge as he could before hurling the resulting lightning at the machine. The practice earlier had been worth it, the bolt forming within two seconds.

The device died immediately, the bubble bursting and the humming ceasing.

As Barry caught his breath, the Dominators stalked toward him, weapons ready. They hissed, and he heard a voice in his mind.

" _You should not have done that."_

Just then, a loud growl pierced the air.

" _YOU_."

And then Supergirl was upon them, all rage and speed. Her eyes glowed a solid red and her growls were loud enough to rattle bones. She twisted the head of the first Dominator like a bottle cap, the large alien slumping to the floor. Then she pounced on the second, pinning him to the floor. She lurched toward his throat with a hiss, fangs digging deep and ripping into flesh.

But then she reared back with a disgusted yelp, spitting and scrubbing at her mouth with her fingers.

"Ew, ew, bad idea, bad idea!" she squealed, her surge of bloodlust broken, "Rao, that tasted awful! Bleh! Blarg! Ick! Water, WATER!"

Out of sheer instinct, Flash raced to a gas station he had passed on the way, racing in and grabbing a water bottle before racing out with a cry of "I'll pay later!"

When he got back, he held the bottle out, and Kara snatched it and practically ripped the top off, rinsing and spitting three times before guzzling down most of the remaining water.

"Gah! Why did I ever think that would be a good idea? _Why?_ "

She calmed down after a minute, and finally noticed Barry still staring at her.

"Uh, hi Barry. How are things?" she asked nervously

Barry just kept staring at her, and she realized that she still had her fangs out. Sheer nerves prevented her from just retracting them.

"So, I'm guessing you saw all that," she gulped.

"Kara, buddy," he said slowly, "Are you a vampire?"

She latched into his shoulders, her face pure fear.

"DON'T. SAY. ANYTHING. I beg of you, say nothing! I know I'm asking you to keep a secret after you just got blasted by your friends for keeping secrets, but for the love of Rao, don't tell anyone! I…I can't…please just keep quiet about it."

Barry slowly brought her into a hug.

"Your secret's safe with me."

Kara just broke at that, slipping into her mother tongue to offer a prayer to Rao.

 **oOo**

Kara had calmed after a while, and offered to do a fly-by to see if any more Dominators or mind-control orbs were in the area. When she got back to STAR Labs, Barry was distraught. Apparently, Oliver, Dig, Thea, Sara, and Ray had been abducted by teleport beam, the Dominator ship zooming away the second it had taken them. Kara offered to go after it, but Felicity had vetoed that idea, claiming that it was too far ahead.

"Satellites can't track it. We're going to have to find another way to find them."

She then ordered everyone to get some rest before she and Cisco left to Team Arrow's base in Star City to problem solve with Felicity's more powerful computers and fellow genius Curtis Holt.

Kara stole a spare cot from STAR's storage and left for the hanger. After going through a prayer, she sat back on her cot, which she had tucked against one wall, and cracked open her cooler. She was halfway through a bag when there was a knock on the cracked door of the container. She rushed her bag back into the cooler as a voice called out.

"Kara, it's Barry. Can I come in?"

She plastered on a smile and called for him to come. He walked in and eyed her, and his gaze strayed to the cooler by her side. She followed his gaze and realized that, in her haste, the cooler wasn't fully shut, and the tube of the bag was sticking out.

Kara froze like a deer in headlights.

"So, I'm guessing that's not a normal dietary supplement," Barry asked, "Did I interrupt your lunch?"

"A little," she said weakly.

"Go ahead," he said, gesturing toward the cooler.

"You sure?"

"I'm a CSI. I'm used to blood."

Kara hummed softly and reopened the cooler. She extracted the half-empty blood bag and started sucking at the tube.

"So," Barry said, leaning against the opposite wall, "How long have you…you know?"

"Been a vampire?" Kara said, leaning back herself, "You can say it, I'm not going to break. And it's been a couple months now. It happened not long after you left, actually."

"Sorry I wasn't there."

"There was nothing you could have done. It happened so fast."

"What happened?"

"It started with a ship, a pod really, that fell from the sky…"

Kara related her tale: the attack, Adrian and Shanoa arriving and saving her, her first feeding, getting used to her new reality, her feral episode when her Kryptonian powers had been drained, the people who knew about her vampirism and how they reacted.

Barry caught the distraught look on her face when she described James Olsen, but held his tongue until the end.

"So," he finally said, "You were worried we'd all react like James."

"I'm always worried someone will react like James. I'm a vampire, Barry. That's not a good thing."

"It can be. Do you have Buffy the Vampire Slayer on your Earth?"

"I know where you're going with this, Barry. Angel was always a little off-putting to me, and the character became dead to me after what happened with Jenny Calendar, never mind how the show kept trying to include him afterward. It's why I never watched the spin-off."

"What about Spike?"

"You act like he wasn't still a jerk when he became their ally. Not exactly a role model."

"Point."

Kara finally finished her blood and set the empty bag in her lap.

"Barry, I don't want this to get out. I have a hard enough time day-to-day with this. I don't need more rejection. And…I wanted a mission, just one, where the vampire thing didn't come up at all. I just wanted to ignore it for a few days. Is that so wrong?"

She looked down at the bag.

"I can already tell the others are little intimidated by my strength, the sheer level of my power. I don't need to give them a reason to look at me like a monster."

Barry said nothing. He just walked over and gave Kara a hug. After a minute, he spoke up.

"We all have secrets to keep to protect ourselves," Barry said, "I'll do what I can to help."

"Thank you," she whispered.

They talked for a bit more about lighter fare. Kara talked about some recent developments in her life, like her growing friendship with Lena. Barry explained Wally, who was hoping to becoming an active superhero, but still needed work.

"He won't be joining the rest of the Dominator fight. Ray roughed him up pretty good. Joe and Iris kept saying he wasn't ready."

"Yeah, full scale invasion, not really good for getting your feet wet," Kara nodded, "I mean, I started small too. I saved a plane."

"Only you would call that small."

"Please, my cousin and I help failing aircraft, like, every month. It's kind of our thing, alongside bouncing bullets off our chests."

"And they still stay flying is a safe way to travel."

"Well, statistically, it is. New topic, are you okay right now? The whole timeline changing thing?"

Barry sighed.

"A little. Oliver gave me a pep talk. Claimed that anyone in my position would make the same choice. He would. Both his parents died right in front of him. If he had the chance to change that…"

"Sometime I wonder," Kara said soberly, "What would have happened if Krypton hadn't died? Who would I be then?"

"If you could, would you?"

"I don't actually know, Barry. There was a time I would have said yes, but…I have Alex, and Winn, and Lena. I have J'onn and Eliza. I had Jeremiah. Even Kal, he's not around much, but when he is…if I had never known them, never had those people in my life, it would be emptier for it. I'd have Kal, but he'd be so different. I wouldn't have Alex, and she's been such a massive part of my life that I can't imagine it without her."

Kara stared at the ceiling, peering through the layers to look at the sky above.

"If I could, though, I'd like to have them here. In this life, the one I've built in Earth. If I could have my parents, if Astra hadn't fallen so far…"

"Best of both worlds."

"Yeah…something like that."

"You know," Barry said, "After meeting you, I wondered about doppelgangers. Other versions of us on other worlds. I met a doppelganger of me once, on another Earth. If you exist on your Earth, do you exist on this one? If so, are you here, or is Krypton still there?"

"Or did I die with Krypton?"

Barry shuddered and said, "That's a scary thought."

"I suppose it doesn't matter," Kara said, "This universe's me…well, she wouldn't be _me._ "

"The other me certainly wasn't like me."

"What was he like?"

"Bit of a wimp, actually."

"Ah."

"Well, I should go," Barry said, checking his watch, "I need to see if there's an update on finding Oliver and the others."

Kara nodded and he got up to go.

"Barry?"

Barry stopped at the door and looked back, seeing a grateful look on Kara's face.

"Thanks for listening."

"If you run out of those bags, let me know. I can give a donation."

Barry left the container and walked to the command center, spotting Caitlin working on something.

"Any word from Felicity and Cisco?"

"Not yet," Caitlin said, "Hang on, though. I want to talk to you about Kara."

Barry tried to make his next words casual, but a hint of suspicion entered his tone.

"What about her?"

"Is she okay? You described her as practically sunshine incarnate—"

"You're saying she's not?"

"No, but there are points where she seems kind of…sad to me. Is there something going on?"

Barry looked at her for a long time before shaking his head.

"Not my place to say."

As Barry walked off, Caitlin spared a glace towards the back of the hanger, where Kara had bedded down.

"Hmmm."

 **oOo**

With a little doing, and some last-minute help from the Legends timeship, the Waverider, the abducted heroes were rescued. Everyone got back to Earth, and the other two members of the Legends were introduced: Nate, who could transform into a super-strong steel-like form, and Amaya, who had a mystical totem that allowed her to take on the abilities of animals.

"I still can't believe you guys escaped an alien spaceship," Cisco squealed, "Keywords: alien spaceship. I have questions."

"They can wait," Oliver grunted, "What's our status?"

"Nothing since the Dominators paid their little visit to mess with our heads," Barry said.

"Why would they do that?" Nate asked.

"What if they were trying to pit us against each other?" asked Ray, "Gain some intel on metahumans."

"And if they got lucky, the mind puppets would have taken some of you out," Amaya added.

"Charming thought, considering I was about to put an arrow through my brother's skull before Flash fried their machine," Thea grumbled.

"Man, I wish they would just send us an IM with a questionnaire," Felicity quipped.

"Which we would probably have ignored," Kara said, "Anyway, metas pose the biggest threat to their invasion. It would make sense they'd want to get to know their enemies."

"By kidnapping people," Stein added, "Perhaps they were searching your minds for potential meta-human vulnerabilities."

"The dream world we experienced would have kept our conscious minds from fighting back while they worked," Sara mused.

"Oh, like The Matrix," Kara said, earning looks from everyone, "What? We have that movie on my Earth. My friend Winn loves it."

"Well, I think it's time we turned those tables," Oliver said, "Get some better info of our own."

"What do you want to do?" asked Dig, "Kidnap one of them now?"

"Ever since we fought off that one ship, they've kind of been in short supply," Barry said.

"Actually, I have an idea," Nate said, walking to the computers, "I've been reviewing old Army footage of their first encounters with the Dominators…and I think I pegged the fight to…"

He typed out some commands, and the screens began to play footage from the 1950s alien encounter.

"Redmond, Oregon. 1951."

The sounds of warfare echoed through the hanger.

"I grew up in Oregon. Great views," Kara said, trying to lighten the mood to no avail.

"Nathaniel, are you suggesting we travel back to 1951, abduct a Dominator, and interrogate it to determine their intentions?" Stein asked.

"They kidnapped us," Sara said, "Seems fair."

"Whoa. Time travel. I'm definitely in," Cisco said.

"Okay, hold on though," Barry interjected, "Professor Stein and Caitlin have been talking about a way to take down the Dominators, they could probably use your help."

"Pass," Cisco replied, glaring at Barry.

"Yeah, I'm with him," Felicity said, gesturing to Cisco, "Mostly because I don't want to lose my geek cred, but time travel. Whee!"

"I could take Amaya and Mick," Nate added.

Sara and Oliver nodded.

"Do it."

"But be careful," Sara said over Cisco and Felicity's squeals as Nate and Amaya led them away, "Last thing we need is to create another aberration."

"In that case, Professor, if you need some mechanical help, ask Wally," Barry said, "He's been itching to help somehow since he was benched."

"I will get him to talk to Jefferson, then."

"And the new president called, which would be cool under different circumstances, but she wants to meet us."

"Woman president. That's familiar," Kara muttered.

"Let's bring Ray and Sara as backup," Oliver said, "Thea, start prepping more explosive arrows. We'll need them."

Thea nodded and walked off. Kara spoke up again.

"What about me? I can do backup."

"Can I talk to you for a second?"

He walked a few feet away, and Kara followed hesitantly.

"Look, I would like to minimize your involvement in this."

"Wait, why? Is it because I'm an alien, or is there something else?" Kara asked, glaring.

"You are an unknown quantity, and this isn't personal."

"Except it feels like it is."

"Kara, when I stared living this life, it was just me. I was going up against human threats. That I could handle. Then I was meta-humans, and I can handle that. Now, I learn there are multiple Earths, and I was brainwashed aboard an alien spacecraft-"

"Which I'm sure was unnerving, but-"

"I don't get unnerved," Oliver growled sharply before calming, "But when I go up against something new, I push back. Right or wrong, it is who I am and it is what I do. So I'm asking for a little bit of space, because I have to draw the line somewhere."

Kara just stared at him, her face stony.

"I have to claw back a sense of normalcy," he continued, "Please stay here."

He stared to walk away, but her hand grabbed his shoulder. It sat heavy, and she was squeezing it harder than she had last time.

"Let's put aside the fact that benching your biggest gun is a tactically poor decision, and focus on the reasoning behind that. So because I happen to come from somewhere else, you're going to be an ass about it."

"That's not what I-"

" _Yes it is_ ," she snapped, "Rao forbid you find out I was keeping some big secret, you'd probably try to banish me from the planet, Mr. High-and-Mighty Vigilante. I just got done dealing with anti-alien terrorists on my Earth, people who hated me just because of my origins, because of _who I was_ , and I am _not_ dealing that that junk here. I'm giving you a pass because you just pulled yourself out of the Matrix and are probably still wigging from it, regardless of what you tell everyone, but let's get something straight…"

She looked him right in the eye, bits of red flashing in hers, and finished with "I'm not going anywhere, Queen."

She stormed off after that, leaving Oliver shell-shocked. A laugh broke him out of his trance.

"Seriously, Ollie," Sara chuckled, "Did you really think that was going to fly?"

"Wow," Barry asked, "I didn't know she did angry."

 **oOo**

Green Arrow, Atom, White Canary, Flash, and Supergirl stood in the middle of the airfield, waiting.

"So where's the President?" Canary asked.

"She's late," Arrow replied, a hint of suspicion in his voice.

"Well, you gotta figure she's got a lot on her plate," Atom said, "what with the whole alien invasion thing."

"And the last guy did _just_ die," Supergirl added, "That's probably hard to deal with."

"We got movement," Canary said suddenly, pointing to one end of the airfield where four black vans were approaching.

The vans soon encircled them, and men in suits piled out, guns in their hands. An old man stepped out of the last car, approaching them. His very presence screamed 'government spook'. He smiled like a shark.

"I'm sorry," he said lightly, "President couldn't make it."

"And who are you?" asked Flash, tensing.

"If I tell you—"

The guns raised, clicking in readiness.

"I'll have to kill you."

"Ah, I think we have a misunderstanding," Atom said, "See, we're the good guys. The President invited us here."

"Barry, I think it's time you do something," Arrow whispered, "And fast."

"I'll take the left, you take the right," Supergirl whispered.

"Fair," Flash said, "Three, two, one, go."

There were blurs of red and blue, and all the guns vanished. A bullet pinged against Atom's armor.

"Sniper," Arrow called out.

"On it," Supergirl said, winging away.

Flash bulldozed into three men, and Arrow nailed another in the shoulder before moving to take down his partner. Canary beat down another pair, and Atom closed in on another who had whipped out a sidearm, disarming him and flinging him away.

In moments, all the men were down, leaving only the old man. A blur of blue and red shot over, shoving him into one of the vans.

"What the hell?" Supergirl shouted, eyes tinged with red.

"You weren't in the files," he muttered.

"We're trying to help you," Flash said, "This is how you thank us?"

"You don't understand-"

"Then start explaining, don't point guns at us," Canary growled.

"The reason the xenomorphs are here-"

"Is because they have a beef with the meta-humans. Tell us something we don't know."

"And do it fast," Supergirl said, "I don't like when people try to kill my friends."

"Start with what exactly we've done to them," Flash said.

"Nothing, yet," the man said, "But they see individuals with powers such as yours as a future threat. And frankly, so do I."

"You subscribe to the Amanda Waller school of thought, then," Arrow said, "You know, there's a reason she's dead."

"If you're such BFFs with the Dominators, why not call them off?" Canary asked.

"We know you sent them packing once before, back in 1951," Atom added.

"That was just a reconnaissance mission," the man explained.

"What brought them back, then?" Flash asked.

"You did, Mr. Allen."

Everyone took a step back, shocked. Supergirl released the man, and he took a moment to center himself and readjust his tie.

"You threatened the entire universe," he continued, "When you used your powers to upset the normal course of time."

"You're talking about Flashpoint?" Atom said, "How do you even know about-"

"They told us."

"I made a mistake, okay?" Barry said, "I'm not going to let it happen again."

"For the past sixty years, we have enjoyed a truce with the Dominators. You were the one who broke it."

"From what we've seen, they would have been looking for an excuse," Supergirl said, "Hello? They're called Dominators! Even if they didn't come up with the name, they sure seem to like it. They've certainly never corrected anyone."

"So what do they want now?" asked Arrow.

"I've negotiated a deal with them," the man said, "If Mr. Allen surrenders himself, they will leave us in peace. You really want to save the world, Flash? Here's your chance."

"You gotta be kidding me!" Supergirl shouted, throwing up her arms, "That's your answer?"

"Trap," Canary said, "That is a trap."

"Guys, maybe—"

"Maybe nothing," Supergirl cut Flash off, "You can't seriously be considering this."

"It's the only way," the old man said.

"You, you zip it before I throw you across this field!"

"You okay there, Supergirl?" Atom asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.

She took a breath and nodded, saying "I guess I'm just a little high-strung. Probably from the mind control attempt this guy's buddies tried. That sound particularly peaceful, Mr. Government Guy?"

"I thought you did something to knock yourself out," Canary asked.

"I could still feel it clawing at my mind. Very. Unpleasant."

"Let's get out of here," Arrow said, "We can talk more without the spook listening in."

 **oOo**

"I'm not letting you do it," Kara grumbled, "You even try, and I'll drag you back myself."

Cisco and Nate had come back from the trip to the past, confirming that the government spook was correct, and the Dominators wanted Barry. Barry offered to give himself up to end this, and everyone else had immediately skewered that idea.

"They're hardly going to stop now," Oliver said.

"I have to agree," said Ray, "If they're that threated by metahumans, it's hard to believe they'd be satisfied with just one."

"Guys, if I can stop this—"

"Forget it," everyone told Barry.

"New topic, please, I can only handle so much idiocy," Thea said.

"So what's the collateral damage on the meta-bomb?" Nate asked.

"Projected casualty count is around two million non-metas," Cisco said, "The transmitter I got from the big black one we saved from being dissected included some specs, probably an attempt to convince us. I crunched the numbers, this thing isn't clean."

"What if we negotiated with them?"

"I don't know if you noticed, but our last chat with him didn't go so well."

"What do we have to lose?"

"It's worth a try," Sara said, "Better than giving up."

"Guys, we got incoming," shouted Dig as he entered the hanger, followed swiftly by Jax, Felicity, Amaya, and Mick, "Dominator ships coming in worldwide."

"Including Central City," Jax added.

Cisco and Felicity went to the computer and pulled up some information to the large screens. Sure enough, satellites were picking up ships across the globe.

"Eleventh hour time, people," Kara said, "What's the play?"

"They're not moving," Cisco called out, "Just sitting there."

"For now," Dig added.

"Guess the truce Secret Agent Man negotiated is over," Ray said.

"They're trying to leverage us," Sara said.

"Cisco, get that transmitter working," Oliver said.

Cisco pulled out the black and red device, but his fiddling produced nothing.

"Guess your friend's not calling you back," Nate said.

"I got a plan B. He gave it to me, I can use it to vibe him."

"Vibe?" Kara asked Barry.

"He can sense the locations of other people in the multiverse, he just needs an object of theirs to focus through."

"It's just as cool as it sounds," Felicity added.

Nate insisted on coming with, and he grabbed Cisco's hand. The two stood there for a minute, their eyes glazed over in a trance. Finally, they broke apart. Nate was angry, and Cisco was horrified.

"'For what it's worth, I'm sorry'? Screw you, ET!"

"What happened?" Sara asked.

"The big guy claimed that emerging superpowers has happened on other worlds, bringing chaos in its wake," Nate explained, "He said that while metas protect the planet now, what happens when bad people start getting the powers more often than good people? He wants to end the threat before it begins and spreads to other planets. As a historian, I can tell you that trying to win a war before it's ever fought _never_ works."

"But what if he's right?" Cisco asked, "What if, in using our powers to make the world better, we actually end up destroying it?"

"Dude, I get it, Barry screwed up—"

"And so did we! Back in 1951. The Dominator we freed, he's coming back to kill us. We screwed with time, and now it's come back to bite us."

Cisco looked over to Barry, scared and forlorn.

"You messed with time and wrecked things, and now I did. I just wanted to make things right, and we ended up making it worse."

"Welcome to my world, man," Barry replied sadly.

Then he sighed.

"But back to the original topic—"

"The hell you are!" Kara shouted.

"I turn myself over to the Dominators, they leave the rest of the world alone. It's simple."

"It's stupid is what it is!"

"Barry, it doesn't matter what you've done," Dig said, "You can't do this."

"It's been an honor to know all of you," Barry continued, "To fight alongside of you. But now it's up to you to keep our home safe."

He turned and began to walk away.

"Barry!" Oliver shouted, "I'm with Kara. I can't let you do this."

"No offense, Oliver. But you and what army?"

He turned to look back at Oliver, only to see everyone gathered there, their arms crossed and their expressions determined.

"This one," Kara said.

"I don't like you, Red," Mick said, "But when you got a crew, you don't take a hit for the rest."

Barry stared at them all, and then laughed softly.

"That was actually pretty inspiring, up until the point where Mick compared us all to criminals."

"According to the Dominators, we might as well be," Amaya said.

"And maybe they're right," Nate continued, "Maybe we do more harm than good, but this is our chance to find out."

"We're not letting you sacrifice yourself," Cisco said, stepping forward, "There's no way. I don't care if that's what it means to be a hero, you're not a hero to me. _You're my friend._ "

Barry couldn't say anything, he just nodded.

Suddenly, the computers blared. Felicity, who was closer, took a look at the readouts and paled.

"The ships are opening up. Reports are coming in, it's all over the world. Oh frak."

"Talk to me," Oliver said, shifting into commander mode.

"Something from the mothership just broke atmo, and not to get too technical, but it's really, really big and falling to Earth, really, really fast."

"It's the meta-bomb."

"Why would they use their ships if they're just going to drop the bomb?" Kara asked.

"To keep us distracted, prevent us from stopping the meta-bomb."

"Where'd Sara and Cisco go?" Jax suddenly asked.

The computer next to him pinged and Felicity shot over.

"Object travelling at high-velocity, headed toward the bomb," she called out.

"They took the Waverider," Nate said, "Sara's going to use the tractor beam to stop the bomb."

"Can she do that?" asked Barry.

"Depending on the size, not for long," Jax replied.

"Kara, _now_ it's eleventh hour time," Oliver said, "We have to keep the Dominators at bay."

"This might help!" came Stein's voice as he ran up to the group.

"Nick of time, Professor," Mick said.

"What've you got, Grey?" Jax asked.

Stein held out a silver object.

"I've mass-produced a small device that, when placed on individual Dominators, will cause indescribable agony. Not the nicest invention, but this is war."

Barry took the device and looked it over.

"Nice going. How many do we have?"

"Caitlin, Wally, and my daughter are cranking out more, but there's a caveat. If we activate the weapons before all the devices are placed on the Dominators, they'll know what we're up to."

"Well, then we'll have to do it fast," Oliver said, looking to Barry.

"Only way I know how."

 **oOo**

The meta-bomb was visible in the sky now, but the assembled heroes paid no mind to it, their focus on the Dominators.

Flash, Green Arrow, Supergirl, Atom, Firestorm, Heat Wave, Spartan, Speedy, Steel, and Vixen stood together on the rooftop, ready to oppose the alien force.

The shing of Nate armoring up was all order they needed to charge.

Spartan, Heat Wave, Speedy, and Green Arrow let off a withering barrage of fire. Firestorm and Atom buzzed the enemy from above, laying down more fire. Vixen took on the abilities of a bear and waded into battle beside Steel. Flash and Supergirl began to blitz anywhere not covered by their allies, using extreme speed to knock Dominators aside like bowling pins, placing the devices with every hit.

Several Dominators extended long talons from their wrists to better attack the heroes, but speed and power were on the side of good. Steel allowed one blade to shatter against his impenetrable skin before sending the offending alien flying. A blur of lightning passed by the airborne alien, the Flash continuing his work.

Heat Wave body-checked a Dominator trying to get at Vixen's blind spot before sticking his weapon up and giving it a faceful of fire.

"Fry, you freaks!" he shouted as he made his way over to Arrow, who was firing at insane speeds and aiming to cripple.

A Dominator got hit in the knee with an arrow, the titanium tip piercing through. As it shrieked in pain, Atom took the opportunity to bulldoze it while it was vulnerable, before shrinking to avoid the retaliating strike of its fellow. He then zoomed over to where a Dominator had knocked over Spartan, grabbing it and flying up.

"See you later, Dominator," he quipped before dropping the alien.

It landed on an unfortunate fellow, and both were sent flying by Vixen, having switched to an elephant. Steel was right behind her, slamming into any that she missed.

All through the battlefield, blurs of lightning whizzed by, Flash placing the devices on every Dominator he could get within arm's reach of. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Supergirl doing much the same, but she focused just as much on punching them out as she did on placing the devices. He mused briefly on whether or not giving her device duty as well was ideal, but she was in the same class of speed as him, and many hands made light work.

Speedy had switched to her sword and was fending off a Dominator. A quick feint and she managed to strike at its chest.

"Get off my planet," she growled, kicking the wounded alien in the chest to remove her sword from it.

Another Dominator moved to intercept her, but a blast from Firestorm made it reconsider its position.

" _Firestorm,_ " he heard from his earpiece, " _If you're done playing with your friends out there, we could really use your help._ "

Firestorm looked up, the circle that was the meta-bomb slowly growing larger. As he flew higher, he noticed the Waverider above the bomb, shining a light upon it. As he expected, the tractor beam was slowing the bomb, but not stopping it.

" _I have an idea of what she wants us to do,"_ came Stein's voice from within their combined mind, " _Up for a molecular rearrangement, Jefferson?"_

"We'll find out," Jax replied as he flew up.

Green Arrow nailed a Dominator in the head, then switched targets, firing two arrows in quick succession at another. But this Dominator seemed tougher than its fellows, and it ripped the arrows out, advancing on Oliver.

The vigilante tried to fight back, landing several hits with his bow, but the Dominator got in a strong blow to the chest, sending him careening over the side of the roof.

His life couldn't even start to flash before his eyes when she felt a pair of strong hands grabbing him. He whipped his head around to see Supergirl, who quickly flew up with him. From the air, they noticed more Dominators teleporting in.

As they landed gave her a grateful nod before speaking up.

"I know you said your heat vision was fritzy, but they're calling in reinforcements, so maybe-"

"I got something else. Kind of new, that's why I don't use it much."

She flew up higher and held her hands together.

"FULGUR MAXIMUM!"

At her cry, lightning speared down from the heavens, striking at the Dominators and devastating their numbers. Supergirl soon followed, slamming into the roof and throwing a spread of fireballs.

"Damn, Skirt!" Mick called from nearby, "Where you been hiding that?"

Kara spared a look at Heat Wave before continuing on.

Mick blinked in shock.

"Were those fangs?"

Supergirl sped back into battle, more lightning arcing into her hands. She lashed out, electricity striking at one Dominator and arcing to its fellows. One managed to stagger through the pain and raised a taloned arm to strike at her, but she blocked with one forearm, calling energy into her other hand. Shadow surged into her hand, taking a solid shape, and she swung. The resulting hammer nearly decapitated the Dominator. As it stood, fragments of teeth flew every which way.

"How long have you been able to do that?" Flash said, pausing in his race.

"A few months now," she replied quietly, "You know why."

"Oh. Right."

Nothing more was said, but before they could dive back into battle, Felicity's voice came in over the comm.

"Okay, _according to the readings, all the Dominators here have been tagged or taken out. Time for you two to handle the squads about in rest of the world._ "

"Up for a race, Kara?"

"Always."

And then they were gone in a gust of powerful wind.

Blurs of red and blue made their way across the planet, trailing lightning and sparks in their wake. Both pushed themselves to the limit, knowing that this was for all the marbles.

Finally, after what seemed like hours but was far shorter than that, they both reunited back in Central City.

"Done."

"Done. Felicity?"

" _Bringing the pain._ "

In a run-down warehouse, a button was pushed. And all across the globe, Dominators grabbed at various parts of their bodies, pain blazing across their nerves like wildfire.

Green Arrow looked around the battlefield. Any Dominator that hadn't been killed somehow in the melee was screeching in absolute pain, before racing away and into a constant stream of energy from their ship, teleporting away.

"Okay, that's working. What about the bomb?"

He would get his answer a moment later, when a sudden rain shower drenched the area before stopping as suddenly as it started.

" _Never ask me to transmute something that big again,"_ came Firestorm's tired voice over the comm.

Flash and Supergirl rejoined the group as the Dominator ship arced skyward, Felicity's voice informing them that this was happening all over the world.

"He did it," Oliver breathed as Firestorm flew down to them, followed by the Waverider.

"No, Oliver," Kara began.

"We all did it," Barry said, finishing the thought.

The second Firestorm touched down, he looked at everyone, and a slow laugh began to trickle out from him. Ray picked it up, and soon, everyone was laughing, waning adrenaline slipping them into a state of relieved shock.

But as everyone began to trade congratulations…

"So what was with the fangs?"

Kara stiffened at Mick's question, before looking at him oddly.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Sure you do. Right after you went all Zeus smiting the unworthy, I saw you had fangs. You don't have them now, though. What's up with that?"

"I don't know what you mean. Are you sure you're seeing things right? Did you get hit on the head?"

"I know what I saw," Mick said, growing agitated, "And I saw fangs."

"Mick, just leave it," Barry said, "It was probably just a trick of the light. There was a lot going on at the time."

As everyone began to file onto the Waverider for a quick trip back to the warehouse, Mick fumed internally.

' _I'm not that dumb,'_ he thought _, 'I know what I saw. Snart wouldn't have left it, and I won't either.'_

 **oOo**

That evening, after the President had given them a private ceremony thanking them for their heroism, everyone changed back into civilian garb.

Then Sara and Thea had cracked open the champagne bottles.

Kara adjusted her glasses as she looked around. In addition to the heroes, Joe and Iris had come to celebrate, a young man she pegged as Wally following behind. The strange man that Barry had called HR was also there, but mostly kept near the music player. Felicity had mentioned that Curtis had wanted to come, but parties weren't his thing. Caitlin and Cisco were in attendance as well.

For a second, she wished Alex was there. She would have liked this.

Taking a glass from Ray and Felicity, she began to mingle, idly picking up that she reminded Ray of his cousin. She shook the train of thought off, though. What were the odds that it was her doppelganger, adopted by Ray's family rather than whoever the Danvers were over here?

She walked over to Barry and Oliver, getting their attention as they did a small toast.

"You guys ever save the world before?" she asked.

Oliver nodded and Barry gave a brief "Last year."

"Doesn't get old, does it?"

"Sure beats screwing up the world," Barry answered.

"Hey, you are too hard on yourself."

"That's what people usually tell me," Oliver interjected.

"And for good reason, I'm sure. But, back on my Earth, it's really just me and my cousin. And between the two of us, we're-"

"More powerful than everybody in this room combined."

Kara flicked Barry's shoulder, saying, "No, that's the point. That's what you've all proven here. Metahumans or not, superpowers or not, you are Earth's mightiest heroes."

"I, uh," Oliver shuffled awkwardly, "I owe you an apology for earlier-"

"Forget it," Kara said, "I'm choosing to chalk that up to post-hallucination jitters. Happened to me after I was exposed to a parasitic plant called the Black Mercy. Trapped me in a dream state, I was messed up for a bit when I got out. Anyone would be. But you know, I think our hardships make us stronger, in a way."

"I can drink to that, at least," he replied, tapping his glass to hers.

Kara left them to their guy talk soon after, milling about the room. She bumped into Wally and exchanged greetings. He seemed subdued, and Kara picked out a reason.

"You're upset that you couldn't have done more, aren't you?"

"That obvious?" he asked.

"I used to feel the same way," Kara shrugged, "My world already had a Superman, and it was more important for me to hide when I was younger than try to join him. It was hard sometimes, because I felt like I was meant for more. But one day, I embraced who I was, and I never stopped. I don't think I've ever regretting becoming Supergirl, not for long anyway. Your time will come, Wally. It's just a matter of when."

Kara took a sip of her champagne, letting him process that before continuing.

"Besides, a massive alien invasion isn't something you want to start a hero career with. It's a little too much to bite into at once."

"Yeah, started to figure that out when a mind-controlled Ray knocked me for a loop.," he replied, "If he hit that hard, I don't want to know how hard a Dominator hit."

"Considering the damage I can tank, I'm the last person to give you a straight answer about that."

Wally laughed at that, then frowned at something over her shoulder. When she looked, she snarled.

"What is he doing here?"

Kara made her way over to where the government spook from earlier that day was talking with Nate, listening in as she walked to find out what was going on.

"Mop-up?" Nate was saying, "I think you mean cover-up. But you can't cover this up. The President herself thanked us, for pity's sake."

"Oh, I think you'll find that all sorts of things can be spun into all sorts of directions," the old man said, a bit of menace entering his voice.

"Oh hello, Agent Smith," Kara said cheerfully, "I thought that was you."

"And who might you be, Miss—"

Kara tilted her glasses down and let some red enter her eyes. The man stiffened, paling a bit.

"It really is funny seeing you here," Kara continued, "I was just having the loveliest chat with your president about you. I was telling her how, on my Earth, we have this organization. The Department of Extranormal Operations, it deals specifically with aliens and related things. I actually help them out a lot, so I was able to tell her quite a bit about their methods and operations. She thought the whole thing was an excellent idea. Of course, she wanted to make it a branch of ARGUS at first, let it grow a bit under a more established organization before splitting off into its own thing, but everything has to take baby steps, I suppose."

As she talked, the man's forced smile began to dip before disappearing completely. Kara went in for the kill, her own smile quickly resembling that of a tiger that had just caught itself a juicy meal.

"She also loved my pitch about reassigning you to Antarctica. Something about 'not negotiating with terrorists no matter where they're from' or something like that. She was _very_ interested in how you handled the entire affair with the Dominators, you see."

The man opened his mouth to retaliate, but Nate's own smug laugh cut him off.

"I guess next time, you'll be nicer to strange visitors from another planet," he said.

The man growled and walked away.

"Pack a jacket!" Kara called out to him.

"That was devious, Kara," Nate said, an inch away from full-on cackling.

"Everyone is always so surprised when I do something like that," Kara said, "Do I really look that innocent? I mean, it's not like I was assistant to a media mogul known for tearing people apart with a few sentences, lasting for years in a position that previous holders barely lasted a few weeks in thanks to her razor-sharp tongue. I couldn't possibly have watched and learned from her, picking up tricks to use against people who _really_ deserve it and gaining the ability to unleash armor-piercing words when necessary."

Kara paused, putting a finger to her chin.

"Oh wait…"

Kara left Nate to his laughter, running straight into Sara.

"I saw that," she said, "It was awesome…and kinda hot."

"Oh, here we go," Kara muttered, rolling her eyes, having seen this coming eventually after asking Jax about Sara's earlier remarks.

"What, are you not gay? Tell me I didn't cross a line here."

"Little late for you to ask, isn't it?" Kara said, "But if you _must_ know, I'm bisexual. And from what I've heard, so are you."

"Yeah, I just tend to prefer ladies most of the time."

"Jax told me about what happened in France."

"I regret nothing," Sara smiled.

"You seduced the wife of the king!"

"And?"

Kara put her hand over her eyes, but couldn't stop herself from smiling.

"You're insane, you know that?" she asked.

"Normal is overrated," Sara replied, "But back to my original question, before you distracted me by being a complete badass while wearing cute glasses. You want to maybe grab a drink sometime?"

Kara looked at her, deciding to be honest.

"As fun as that might be, my record with relationships is pretty pitiful and I'm really not looking right now. But maybe you ought to talk with Alex somet-"

Kara stopped suddenly, a stricken look on her face as she looked past Sara. Looking behind her, Sara saw Mick holding up a red lunch cooler and a plastic object filled with a red liquid.

"Hey Skirt! Anything you want to tell us?" he loudly called out, "Like why you've got a cooler of blood bags?"

Sara looked between Mick and Kara. Kara stood shock-still, her eyes wide with fear. Her breath came out in quick gasps, like she was seconds away from a panic attack. The sheer difference between this behavior and every other time she'd seen Kara paralyzed her for a moment before she dropped into captain mode.

"Mick, what the hell is all this?" Sara called out, using her most authoritative tone.

"I know what I saw, and I saw fangs. So, what do fangs on a girl and a cooler of blood equal?"

This finally shocked Kara into a reaction. There was a blur of motion, and then Mick was on the ground and empty handed, the only explanation being a cry of "Give me those!" And then she was gone.

"Oh my God, Mick, why?" Barry asked, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

Sara looked around, noticing that their altercation had attracted attention. As if sensing something important going on, HR had turned off the music. Everyone was looking in their direction, bearing varying degrees of confusion. Only Barry seemed to have his wits about him. But before she could ask him, Mick stood back up, laughing.

"Oh, this is great! I didn't think I'd wake up today and not only fry some aliens, but fulfill one of my dreams!"

He reached into his coat and pulled out a wooden stick.

"What is that, and why are you carrying it around?" Sara asked.

"I always carry it, in case I need it," Mick replied, gently poking the sharpened end of the stick, "I've always wanted to kill a vampire!"

There was a flash of lightning, and Mick was on the ground again, but this time, the source was more obvious.

Barry stood above him, fist clenched. He vibrated slightly with anger, his face a mask of fury.

"You are NOT killing Kara!" he shouted.

And that opened the floodgates.

"You're in on this, aren't you?" Mick shouted.

"Not my story to tell," Barry shot back, "But anyone who wants at her has to go through me."

"Barry, didn't you _just_ get in trouble for keeping big secrets?" Iris asked.

"That's what I was gonna say!" Jax shouted, "Can we not start this again?"

"Iris, I think this is different," Joe said, "It's not his secret, he's protecting Kara."

"Indeed," Stein nodded, "And considering how we agreed not to say anything about the last secret, Jefferson, I think you would be more sympathetic to Barry."

"And look where keeping the secret got us!" Jax shot back.

"Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit," was all Felicity could say.

"Are we serious right now?" Wally asked, "She's a vampire! She seemed so nice!"

"Vampire!" Thea gasped, "As in the blood-sucking, creature of the night vampire?"

"After Darhk, I probably shouldn't be surprised," Dig mused, "But still, _what_?"

"This is going to get worse before it gets better," HR muttered from the sidelines, tugging his hat down over his eyes.

The rest of the Legends team was right there with him, unsure what to make of all this as the debate raged and accusations flew by. Oliver also stood by, his brain running a complex train of thought, even as everyone else devolved into shouting.

"Guys, what about Kara?" Sara was asking, to little avail, "She looked pretty scared."

"Scared?" Cisco asked, "She looked ready to start hyperventilating. Maybe we should drop this?"

"Thank you!" Barry shouted, throwing his hands up.

And as the arguing reached a fever pitch, words starting to mash together, no one noticed Caitlin slip away.

She made a beeline to the container that Kara had claimed, and found her inside, trying to hurriedly pack and failing miserably in her panicked state.

"I can't, I can't, I can't," she was rambling, "I can't do this, I can't go through this. What was I thinking, of course they'd find out! Half the DEO knows, they just like me too much to say anything, I don't have that luxury here! No, no, nonono. I have to…need to…okay, I'll yank Cisco out of there, beg him to open a portal back home, and jump through before anyone knows I'm gone. That'll work, right? I have to move fast before they decide wooden stakes are a valid option. Actually, would that work since I'm still bulletproof? Questions for later. I really hope Alex doesn't ask how things went. And I really, REALLY hope this doesn't happen back home. I'd probably have to move to Alaska, live off caribou! HA-HA-HA-HA!"

"That doesn't sound like a good idea," Caitlin said, interrupting the crazed laughter.

Kara leapt three feet in the air with a yelp and stayed there, whirling around to face Caitlin. She was the picture of a caged animal, curled in on herself, eyes wild, hair sticking every which way, fangs bared as a warning.

Caitlin just slowly walked over, tugged on Kara's clothes until she hit the ground, and wrapped the scared woman in a hug.

"It's okay, you're okay, I'm not going to hurt you."

"But you know now. You know what I am. Why-"

"I know I didn't say anything, but did Barry tell you exactly why I can't use my powers?"

"No, he said it wasn't his story to tell."

"He said the same about you, despite everyone's questions. Me though, I saw something familiar on your face. I see it every morning, in the mirror."

Caitlin guided her to the cot and sat them down.

"Turns out superpowers and years of repressing negative emotions don't mix. When I first got them, I hid them, because they reminded me of something dark. But they kept slipping out. And soon I had to actively use them a few times, to help Barry. And every time it happened, I lost a little more control. Soon, something else took over. All my fear, all my hate, all wrapped up in my ice powers. Barry helped me, brought me back…but sometimes, at night, just as I'm going to sleep, I feel so cold. I can feel her scratching at the walls. Her way of letting me know that as far as I run, there's still no escaping Killer Frost."

Caitlin paused for a moment, taking a breath.

"I know what it's like. To feel like there's a monster living under your skin. I understand the need to hide, even from those close to you. I know what it's like to be looked at with fear, because of what you are."

"How do you deal with it?" Kara asked, "How do you live with yourself? I've killed people, because of this. I drink blood, for Rao's sake! How-"

"A day at a time, Kara. A day at a time."

They spent a few minutes like that, Caitlin offering soft touches and words of encouragement to calm Kara down. Once she was calm enough, she helped Kara finish packing and brought her back to the main area, where everyone was still arguing. Kara stiffened in fear, but Caitlin kept a calming hand at her shoulder.

"Cover your ears a minute," she said.

Kara did so, and Caitlin brought her other hand to her mouth and gave off a piercing, New York cab whistle.

Everything stopped dead. As the last echoes of the whistle faded, Kara looked at Caitlin, impressed.

"I never could do that," she said.

"It's easy," Caitlin shrugged before turning back to the masses and giving her orders in a calm and controlled voice.

"Cisco, go get that thing you were going to give to Kara, then open a portal back to her Earth. Barry, you will be a gentleman and escort the lady home. You can use the device to signal Cisco for a ride back. Everyone else, you will be polite and respectful."

"But she-" Mick began, only to get cut off by Caitlin.

"Feels bad enough about her dietary needs. Why do you think she ran, idiot! She doesn't need this, least of all from people who she fought beside for the past few days, and who should know better than to treat her like a criminal!"

Everyone flinched at the rebuke. Mick looked about to say something else, but Sara swiftly swept his legs, sending him to the ground for the third time.

"Keep your mouth closed so you don't put your foot in it," she said, before walking over to Kara and giving her a light hug.

"It was nice working with you."

"You too," Kara said softly.

"If you ever want to jaw, we're giving Cisco a way to reach us despite the time differences. He can transfer your call."

"Tone down the flirting, and you've got a deal. But, how exactly-"

Cisco came back from where he had disappeared at Caitlin's instruction, and he held out a circular device.

"It's called an inter-dimensional extrapolator," he said, "You can use it to contact us, or open portals to our Earth. You can cross over to our universe any time you need to."

"If you ever want to talk, or you need help, or you just need a vacation, the door's always open," Barry added.

"Thanks guys," Kara said, taking the device, "Last bit aside, this was…nice. It was nice to work with other heroes. There aren't many on my Earth, so team-ups aren't really something I have experience with."

"Any time, any Earth, my friend."

Kara slowly returned his smile, then took the device. Everyone gave their good-byes, some more strained than others, and then Oliver, who had been silent for a while, spoke up.

"Supergirl."

Kara turned away from the portal Cisco was forming.

Oliver gave a salute and said, "See you out there."

Kara smiled and returned it, "You too, Green Arrow."

 **oOo**

Kara dropped her bags on the floor and slumped onto her couch, drained.

"You need anything?" Barry asked, "A snack, a drink?"

"Just do me a favor and call my sister. I left my phone on the counter, there. She's the first contact."

"You didn't bring it?" he asked, quickly finding the device in question.

"Figured I wouldn't have service, so I didn't bother," Kara replied, closing her eyes and taking a few deep breaths.

Barry dialed the number and waited a minute.

" _Kara, is that you?"_ came a worried voice.

"Actually, it's Barry. Kara crashed on her couch the second I brought her back, but she told me to call you."

" _She's okay?"_

Barry looked over at Kara, who was still taking deep breaths.

"In all honesty, could you get here quick? Something came up at the end of her stay, and I don't think I want to leave her alone."

" _What came up?"_

"Her…ah, dietary requirements."

The other line was silent for a moment. Then there was a gruff " _On my way_." and a dial tone.

Barry put the phone down and settled down in another chair, where he could see Kara. She continued to take deep, slow breaths, and Barry let her. His mother had suffered from anxiety attacks, and it wasn't uncommon that he came home from school to find her like much like this, breathing deeply and listening to music to calm herself down. Eventually, he had learned to let her be until she opened her eyes again.

After some time waiting, there was a knock in the door. Kara whipped her head toward the sound, but Barry had already gotten up, telling her that he had it. He waited until she had gone back into her calming trance before continuing. He looked through the peephole and saw the same face as in Kara's contact list.

"You must be Alex," he said as he opened the door and stuck out his hand, "Barry Allen, nice to finally meet the woman Kara gushes about."

Barry kept a low tone, and Alex looked briefly over at Kara before realizing the reason and lowering her own voice.

"Nice to meet the man my sister speaks so highly of," Alex replied as she stepped inside and returned the handshake, "How's Kara?"

"Honestly, I think she needs you more than she needs me," Barry sighed, launching into a summarized version of him finding out about Kara's vampirism, and then how it had been revealed to everyone else with much more mixed results.

Alex looked ready to commit murder by the time Barry finished.

"Can you open a portal back to your Earth?" Alex asked, "I want to go over there and tear Mick's head off."

"Sara's beating you to it."

The two of them jumped and looked over to Kara, who was still on the couch, but was now looking over at them. She tapped at her ear.

"Just because you guys are across the room and keeping quiet doesn't mean I can't hear you. I had ears like a bat long before I was bitten by an overgrown one."

Alex tapped Barry on the arm to get his attention.

"Thanks for bringing her home. I've got it from here."

Barry nodded, then walked over to Kara, knelt down, and gave her a hug.

"Remember Kara. You're a hero. Nothing will ever change that."

Kara smiled and thanked him, then passed him the extrapolator. Barry hit a button and spoke into it.

"Kirk to Scotty. Beam me up."

A moment later, a breach opened near them, and Barry tossed the device back to Kara and stepped through.

As the light faded, Alex went over to Kara and sat down, giving her sister a hug.

"It's okay to be upset."

"I'm not upset," Kara said, "I'm just…numb. I should have known this would happen."

"You clearly have some defenders. Barry seems okay with it, and he mentioned a Caitlin and a Sara? You can take some comfort in that."

Kara didn't answer.

"Okay, how about this. You tell me all about your adventure, good and bad, and I'll tell you what I think."

Kara thought about it for a moment before agreeing. As she told the story, Kara began to perk up, growing more animated as she spoke. The only black spot in this was the mind control attempt by the Dominators, how her vampire nature allowed her to resist their probes long enough for Barry to destroy the device, and how she killed the two Dominators in a fight of bloodlust.

Otherwise, Kara clearly enjoyed her superhero team-up, and Alex said as much.

"That said, the mind control bit, followed by the feral episode-"

"I wouldn't exactly call it a full feral episode."

"Well, how do you feel about that? Guilty?"

Kara dithered a bit before answering.

"Not as much. They violated people's minds for their agenda, and nearly did the same to me. It has me a little worried, sure. And…"

"And?" Alex prompted.

"And I remember something, while I was under the sleep spell. I remember the dark covering me, fighting back the red. I remember the vampire rising up to protect me. On one hand, that's pretty good, but on the other…the second the pressure was gone, I wasn't able to pull back on the vampire quick enough. I was shocked out of it, but I might have kept going if I hadn't been. I lost control so easy. This time it was because of a psychic whammy, and I doubt I'll run into anything that can do it like that any time soon, but what if it's something else? What if I lose control, and I hurt someone without meaning to?"

The way Kara looked at her as she said the last bit made Alex realize something.

"And by someone, you mean me?" Alex asked.

Kara turned away. Alex looked at how small and scared her sister looked, and made a decision.

"You know what? It's high time we put this to rest."

"Put what to rest?" Kara asked, turning back to see Alex tugging her shirt collar down.

"It's been awhile since you've had something fresh."

Kara reared back, but Alex grabbed her shoulder and kept her there.

"Kara, don't give me that. It's okay, I trust you."

"But I-"

"I trust you."

"What if I-"

" _I trust you._ "

"Alex, if I can't stop myself—"

" _I. TRUST. YOU._ "

Kara looked at her sister, seeing nothing but trust and love, and she folded. She shifted closer, leaning towards the offered neck.

"Alex, are you absolutely-"

"YES."

Kara took several deep breaths, keeping the mantra of ' _Alex trusts me_ ' in her head as she popped her fangs.

"You're okay, Kara," Alex was whispering, "You can have what you need. I trust you."

Kara bit down, trying to ignore the sudden gasp from her sister. Alex's blood hit her tongue, and Kara was briefly lost in the sensations that shot into her brain.

Alex's blood was different from any other. It tasted sweet but salty, like the kettle corn they liked to eat during sister night. It was delicious and comforting and so _Alex._

Kara stopped after drinking for a bit, judging she drank a little less than a pint, no more than would fill a blood donation. Instinct bade her to lick the bitten area. Kara did so, and noted that the wounds rapidly clotted over after she rasped her tongue over them. Vaguely, she remembered Shanoa explaining that vampire saliva had a rapid clotting agent, and licking the wound made for feeding would help it heal faster.

Alex was breathing heavily as Kara pulled back.

"Oh Rao, are you okay?" she asked, but Alex waved her off.

"It was just intense to experience, I'm fine. A little woozy, but that's to be expected."

She blinked and Kara was gone, and Alex heard some rummaging from behind her in the kitchen. Kara soon came back with some cookies and a large glass of juice.

"I hear this is what's normal for blood donations. Is that right, I've never given blood before, obviously."

Alex laughed lightly as she took the offered food.

"If you're this attentive with me, I can only imagine how you'll act after your girlfriend offers you her neck."

"Why a girl, specifically? I like both, it could be a guy."

Alex looked at Kara smugly.

"Kara, my gaydar may be new, but I know you. It'll most likely be a girl. Besides, after your record with guys, I'm willing to bet you'd want to try your hand with the fairer sex."

"Well, Sara did flirt with me…"

"And so it begins!"

"Okay, wise guy," Kara said, plunking back down on the couch, "Any new developments, relationship-wise?"

"Well," Alex laughed, "Maggie came to see me after the Medusa thing, I just didn't get a chance to tell you. Apparently, that shot from Henshaw got her thinking. She told me that life was too short, and we should kiss the girls we want to kiss."

"And…"

Alex was grinning like a loon.

"Oh Rao, seriously?"

"Yeah."

"Congratulations!" Kara squealed, hugging Alex, "That's great news! You need to formally introduce us as sister and girlfriend."

"You just want to give her the shovel talk."

Kara smiled a little too excitedly considering she was plotting ways to threaten someone.

The two spent the rest of the evening talking. Not once was Kara's vampirism brought up. It was just like old times.


	9. Living

_So, I'm sure you're all wondering something. If Kara is trying to avoid red sunlight to prevent a feral episode, and Mon-El isn't here to screw them over by stranding them on a red sun planet, how is this going to play out?_

 _Why don't you read and find out? Honestly, that's how this works._

* * *

 **Supergirl: Blood Ties**

Chapter 9

Living

Kara shouldered her bag and adjusted her grip on the food she brought as she exited the elevator and walked a now familiar path. Behind the desk, Jess looked up from her work.

"Thanks for the heads up," Kara said to her.

"If it weren't for me, she'd work so hard, she'd forget to eat," the secretary replied, "Anything to get her to stop and breathe. I should be thanking you, honestly."

"You don't have to. Lena's my friend."

Jess nudged open the door for her, and Kara breezed in.

"A little bird told me you were trying to work through lunch," she said teasingly.

Lena looked up suddenly.

"Kara! Hello…"

"Sorry I've been out of touch the last few days," Kara said, "A friend from out of town needed my help, it was an emergency."

"Well, I won't begrudge you that. But I have a lot of work to do today, I don't really think I can—"

"I brought sushi. I hear the spider rolls from that place on Fifth are a real winner with you."

Lena stared at her, then tapped her intercom.

"Jess, you stool pigeon."

" _Coo, coo. Have a nice lunch, Ms. Luthor. Everyone needs to eat._ "

Lena growled at the reply, but brightened a bit when Kara slid the box of sushi across her desk.

"She's just worried about you. Frankly, so am I. You work too hard."

"After my mother turned out to be a terrorist, I had to work overtime to make sure her shadow doesn't disrupt L-Corp. Your article was helpful, by the way."

"No problem," Kara said, sitting down with her food, "And for what it's worth, I'm sorry you had to deal with that."

"Your word is worth a lot to me. And it's fine. Honestly, I probably should have expected this. Lex got his…intensity from her. I should have figured sociopathy was from her too."

"She was your mother, Lena. You couldn't have known."

"This is off the record right?" Lena asked wryly.

"Do you see my notepad out?"

"In all honesty, Kara, I was trying to put it nicely during that _Mothers_ interview. Truth is, Lillian was pretty horrible to me most of the time. Sure, once I revealed how smart I was, she talked at length about it. But a lot of times, I was a little doll she could trot out to the other rich families, boasting about my beauty and brains. Insert joke about aristocrats here."

"Ick."

"Yes."

Lena sighed and ate a bit of her spider roll before continuing.

"When I found out about Medusa, how Lillian was planning to kill so many people just for being there…it made me physically ill. The way she talked about her _cause_ , like it was some grand thing she was doing for some greater good…the last time I'd heard something so depraved, Lex was trying to rationalize all the people he killed."

"That's…wow," Kara said weakly, "Was it hard for you to play along?"

"Extremely. It's a good thing I've had practice disguising my true feelings, because it took everything I had not to snap and blast her for what she had done and was planning to do. The only thing that kept me going was seeing justice done."

"I can get behind that," Kara said, "It's certainly over now. With any luck, she's going to jail for a long time."

"There's this phrase I'm fond of: the decisions we make, and the actions that follow, are a reflection of who we are. By that logic, my mother is clearly a madwoman, and deserves everything that's coming to her."

"And you," Kara grinned, "You are far kinder and more _good_ than she could ever hope to be."

Lena smiled warmly at that.

"How is it that you always know what to say to make me smile?" she asked.

"Dunno," Kara shrugged, "I'm just good with words. I like seeing your smile anyway."

"So, aside from helping your friend, what's been going on with you?" Lena asked.

"Well, actually, my sister came out recently."

Lena paused in her eating, giving a confused and very undignified grunt.

"You should have seen her. She was so nervous. But she's a lot happier now that it's in the open."

"And you don't have a problem with it?" Lena asked.

"Why would I? Alex loves who she loves, to hell with anyone who thinks different."

Lena hummed in agreement, taking another bite of her food before speaking.

"It's actually in the company bylaws that we don't tolerate discrimination based on gender identity, among other things of course. I've been trying to add species to the list, but several board members are a little…reluctant. Also, even after your lovely article, I don't expect too many aliens would want to work for me."

"I think you'd be surprised," Kara said, "I interact with aliens a lot, and I knew a few who are extremely grateful for their lives."

"Well, that's good to know."

"You like your sushi?"

"Impressive as always."

"Good, because the owner delivered it to me himself, knowing who it was for somehow. Apparently, his daughter's boyfriend is a Durlan, and you saved his life. He wanted to pass on thanks, and to tell you that you can have free spider rolls anytime you like."

Lena looked at Kara, stunned. Kara shrugged.

"When people are grateful, you know. Feels good to have people like you, doesn't it?"

"I get that sentiment every time you walk into my office," Lena said quietly.

Kara fought down a blush.

They talked for a little longer about innocuous things before Kara had to leave. As she opened the door, Lena called out to her.

"Same time next week? I'll order in."

Kara gave her a smile and said, "I'll bring some cookies from my favorite bakery to go with it."

"Sounds great," Lena replied, returning the smile, "It's a date, then."

As Kara left, she tried not to think about the warm feeling that Lena's smile elicited and the way both of their heartbeats had quickened a bit at the word 'date'.

She failed miserably.

 **oOo**

Kara tried to concentrate on something other than Guardian, who had beaten her to some jewel thieves last night. Unfortunately, James had tried to push an article about it on Snapper, while she was barely a few feet away. Kara felt it was partially aimed at her, and tried to ignore the passive aggressiveness. She restrained a laugh when Snapper growled at him to let him have his coffee and Danish in peace.

Sadly for Snapper, while James left him alone, he was immediately confronted by a strange woman. This got Kara's attention, because she knew the woman didn't work here. So, when Snapper begrudgingly invited the woman into his office, Kara followed discreetly.

The woman was in tears as she related how her daughter had vanished three days ago, the young woman storming out after a fight.

"I put these posters up all over," the woman said, taking a few missing posters out of her bag, "I called all over, her friends, her father. The police just say she's a runaway. And they say that there isn't anything they can do."

"Your daughter ever run away before?" Snapper asked, and Kara could have sworn the grouchy man was trying to be nice.

But the woman explained that yesterday had been her birthday, and her daughter would have called.

"I know something's wrong," she croaked.

That was it for Kara, who stepped in and gave the woman a hug.

"You looked like you needed that," she said after breaking it, "Don't worry, we're going to get your story out there. We're going to find your daughter."

The woman tearfully gave her thanks, bringing Kara into another hug before handing over a poster and leaving.

"'We're going to find your daughter'?" Snapper grunted, "Why would you tell her that?"

"Why wouldn't I? She was crying. We're going to help her, aren't we?"

Snapper rolled his eyes and picked up his Danish.

"Aren't we?" Kara asked with a little more force.

"Teenage runaways are not news, they're clichés. And we have more important stories to cover."

"More important?" Kara grimaced, "What's more important than a mother finding her daughter?"

"My coffee, my Danish, and the five minutes of peace and quiet you're stealing from me."

"You're serious with this? Did you not see her tears?"

"And?"

"You are made of stone," Kara snarled.

"And you're made of fluff, Danvers. This isn't news, just drop it."

"Sorry, boss. But if I see someone in trouble, I can't just stand by. That's not who I am."

Kara stormed off, shouting over his shoulder as she did.

"I'm surprised you can."

 **oOo**

Kara met Maggie at the alien bar, and Maggie handed her a club soda and a flash drive containing the missing persons report on the woman's daughter, Izzy Williams.

"Thanks for this, Maggie."

"Always happy to help a Danvers," she replied, "Not much I'm afraid, but I suppose every little bit helps. It's funny that you ask for that, though."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, there's been a spike in missing persons over the last few weeks."

"Really? Any theories? Serial killer, kidnappings, what?"

"Serial killers have patterns, kidnappers have motive," Maggie said, shaking her head, "What's odd is that there's nothing to connect those disappearances. Izzy Williams, a father of four, a college student, the list goes on."

Kara took a big drink of her soda, humming in thought.

"Yeah, your guess is as good as mine," Maggie said before getting up, "Good luck, though."

"Hey, before you go…"

"Yes?"

Kara got up and looked Maggie straight in the eye, giving her a smile.

"You're a nice girl, Maggie. I like you. My sister likes you too. A lot, in fact. And you make her happy."

"Yes?" Maggie said slowly, not sure where this was going.

"But you see, you've already hurt her once…and if you were to hurt her again…"

Kara's hand lashed out and grabbed Maggie's wrist. Maggie winced at the sudden pressure. Then she looked closer at Kara. Her expression was completely serious, and her eyes held a dangerous spark.

" _I'd be very upset,_ " she growled, her voice taking on a strange timbre, " _And you wouldn't like that._ "

And then, just as suddenly as it came, the somber mood left. Kara let Maggie's wrist go, the innocent smile coming back to her face.

"Glad we cleared that up. See you later, Maggie. Standing invitation to game night."

Kara picked her glass back up, patted Maggie on the shoulder, and walked off, sipping her soda.

She heard Maggie spring back to life a moment later, with a cry of "Did I just get the shovel talk from a girl in pastels?"

Kara tried not to take a sort of perverse joy in Maggie's reaction.

She failed miserably.

 **oOo**

Kara gave Winn a collection of names, all missing persons, asking him to find some kind of link. As Winn worked his magic, Kara frowned.

"Are you aware that you're wearing sunglasses indoors?"

"The future is so very bright," Winn said offhandedly.

"You get drunk last night, or something?"

"I am quite capable of knowing my limits, thank you very much. And no."

Kara looked closer and noticed something, so she darted her hand forward and yanked the glasses off, to Winn's sputtered arguments.

"What happened to you?" Kara gasped, taking in the purpled skin around Winn's eye.

"I got mugged," Winn said quickly, "I'm fine."

"Why didn't you tell me? What did he look like? I'll track him down and make him cry!"

"Kara, really, it's fine. And I will have your info for you shortly."

Any further argument was lost when Alex walked up, greeting Kara warmly.

"Well, look at you," Kara said.

"What?" Alex asked, almost unaware of the large grin she was sporting.

"Are you kidding? You look like you've been shot with a love ray. You're practically glowing."

Alex giggled a bit and brushed it off, but then looked around for any eavesdroppers and leaned closer to Kara, whispering.

"Maggie slept over last night."

"What?" Kara breathed, excitement shooting through her, "Oh Rao!"

"Do you think anybody can tell?" Alex asked, trying to put a serious face back on and failing miserably.

"Okay, got 'em," Winn interrupted, swiveling his chair about.

Alex winced at the shiner he was sporting.

"What happened to you?" she asked.

Winn gave a strained smile.

"I got mugged. And I'm fine. And it hurts to smile. Okay, so there is a connection between the people on your list."

"What do we have?" Kara asked, leaning over to look at the computer.

"They all had blood work done a few days before they disappeared."

"Bloodwork? That's weird."

"It's missing persons? You want me to come with you?" Alex asked, skimming the computer herself.

"No, you just stay here and keep on glowing."

Kara read through the rest of the documents, frowning.

"Looks like it was all done at the same research center."

"You really shouldn't go alone if you're investigating," Winn said.

"Great, you can come with."

"Wait, what?"

"Come on, we can pose as a couple or something."

"That sounds like a good idea," Alex said, but Winn continued to shake his head.

"Kara, I am not going on an undercover mission."

 **oOo**

"So, how do you like the undercover mission?" Kara whispered.

"Shut up," Winn grunted from behind his magazine.

A doctor entered the waiting room, looking cheerfully in their direction.

"Well, well, well, well, well. They told me two strapping young millennials had dropped by, and here you are."

"Hello," Kara replied cheerfully.

"Hi," Winn said with a little less cheer.

The doctor winced.

"Oooh, what happened?"

"I got mugged," Winn said flatly.

"My poor baby," Kara added, hugging his arm.

"Kara, please, I'm fine."

"He's such a tough guy. Anyway, we just wanted to get a better idea of what you do here before, you know, jumping in."

"Yeah, we looked at your website, it said you could make some quick cash? Not a lot of other information, though."

"Well, we're running a trial on a new-to-market supplement," the doctor said, "We're just looking to the effect of it on the base metabolic rates."

The doctor walked over to the desk and grabbed a pair of clipboard containing forms.

"So, all we need to do is some quick bloodwork, and we'll have you in and out in no time."

"Ah, that's going to be an issue," Winn said, playfully poking Kara, "This one has a thing about blood. It's a crazy story."

Kara elbowed him discreetly before speaking up.

"It's just a religious thing. I can't give blood, you see. Goes against the principles."

"Oh, shame. But you look young and healthy enough," the doctor said, still cheery, "Let's give it the old college try, shall we?"

The doctor bid them to follow him, and they did, Winn leaning over to Kara and whispering.

"He creeping you out?"

Kara nodded.

The doctor led them down a hallway and into a large, warehouse-like area.

"How did you hear about our study? We have a recruiter, but she didn't tell me to expect anyone today."

"Oh, I heard about it from a friend," Kara said, "Maybe you remember her? Izzy Williams? Odd thing is, I haven't heard from her in a few days. Since she came here, actually."

"Stand here, please. Yes, she did come through here."

The doctor walked toward a structure covered by a large sheet and pulled it off, revealing a metallic oval. He then walked over to a small keypad away from the structure and pushed a few buttons. The hollow center of the oval hummed to life and filled with swirling purple energy.

"What's going on here?" Winn shouted.

"You kids like traveling?" the doctor asked, his face turning into static and revealing a lizard-like head.

A hand grabbed Kara's shoulder, and she reacted, grabbing it and twisting into a throw. Her assailant hit the ground hard, and then she stormed over to the one grabbing Winn, ripping him away and knocking him out with one punch.

The lizard man growled and ran through the portal.

"That must be where the missing people went," Winn said, only to get hit by Kara's discarded shirt.

"Yeah, gathered that," Kara said, stripping off her civilian garb to reveal her Supergirl outfit beneath, "Call the DEO, tell Alex what happened. Have her prep a strike team to follow me, I'll go on ahead."

Winn didn't stop to argue, he just caught the discarded clothing and set them down before pulling out his phone.

Supergirl dove through the portal and landed on sand. Looking around, she found herself in a rocky canyon. The air felt thicker, and everything was in shades of red.

And there was something else. She felt…off. She felt uncomfortable, with an itching sensation on her skin.

She looked around the rocky landscape, again noting how red everything seemed.

"Wait…"

She looked up.

"Nope."

She spun right around and walked back into the portal.

"No, no, no, no, no, no…"

Winn was on his phone, in the middle of the call to Alex, but jumped when Kara stepped back into the room, still ranting.

"No, no, no, no, and an infinite expanse of no…"

"Kara, what the heck?"

"From the dimension of no, with a statue dedicated their creator, the God of No…"

" _Winn, what's going on over there?"_

"Who wept tears of no, that filled the oceans with no…"

"I don't know, Kara's freaking out."

"And brought about billions of creatures that were NO!"

"KARA!" Winn shouted, "What is with you?"

"I found out where that portal leads. Another planet!"

"Cool!"

"A planet with a red sun."

"Not cool!"

"It gets worse. Without my _sun-powered_ Kryptonian abilities to help keep things in check, my vampirism gets harder to deal with. I am not going on a rescue mission just so I can turn around and _eat_ the people I'm trying to rescue."

"Alex, did you catch that?" Winn spoke to the phone.

" _Yeah, I got it. Hold position, I'm getting a squad together."_

 **oOo**

The DEO strike team stormed the place, and Alex quickly hugged Kara the second she could.

"You're okay, right?"

"I'm fine, Alex. I wasn't over there long enough for the red sun to have an effect."

"So, what are we dealing with here?"

"This is a transmatter portal," J'onn said, looking over the machine.

"And what's that?" asked Winn.

"A way to travel instantly between worlds."

"Wait…oh my God, it's Stargate!"

"Winn, focus," Alex snapped, "We need to plug into this control panel and figure out where it leads."

"I'm going to need some gear for that."

"The van's out front," J'onn said.

Winn ducked out with another agent, and they came back with a computer. The two of them fiddled with the console and the computer for a while before Winn snapped his fingers.

"Got it, the ionization trail leads to the Arcturus System, planet 51, arc B."

J'onn looked at Winn's computer and choked.

"That's Maaldoria. The heart of the intergalactic slave trade."

"You mean those missing people are being sold into slavery?" Kara gasped.

"That's bad," was all Alex could say.

"I'm afraid it gets worse."

"Define worse," Kara said.

"The air on Maaldoria is toxic to Martians. Some kind of silicate in the atmosphere. I won't be able to go on this rescue mission."

"And with a red sun kneecapping Kara, that leaves us without any super-backup," Alex groaned.

"Maybe not," Kara said, pulling out her phone.

"Who are you calling?" asked Winn.

Kara didn't answer, she just dialed the number and waited.

" _Hello?"_

"Hi Shanoa, it's Kara. Listen, do you feel like beating up some slavers?"

" _Do I!"_

 **oOo**

It didn't take Shanoa long to get to the site, and while she talked specifics over with Kara and J'onn, Alex pulled Winn aside.

"That the key home?" Alex asked, pointing to the tablet in Winn's hand.

"Yeah, this will activate the transmat on the other side."

"Then keep it. You're coming with."

Winn paled.

"No, um, this is preprogrammed. All you have to do is hit the button, and you're, you're thinking with portals, right? You don't need me."

"Yeah, no. I want your hand at the controls."

Winn just kept shaking his head, but Alex fixed him with a look.

"I wasn't asking, Agent Schott. It's an order."

"I'm, I'm sorry," Winn stumbled, "I'm not going to be of any help to you out there. I mean…"

Alex looked at him expectantly. Winn looked over to make sure Kara was occupied before continuing.

"Fine, I wasn't mugged," he whispered, "All right, I was trying to help Guardian, and I…if he'd showed up two seconds later…"

"I honestly should have expected that to happen sooner or later," Alex said, having yanked the Guardian secret out of Winn awhile back, "But look, we need you. There are people here in trouble, and we have to be their heroes."

"I'm scared!" Winn hissed.

"And you don't think I was afraid the first time I went into the field? Dude, I was terrified. I honestly thought I would end up shooting one of my squad mates, I was shaking so much. But nobody gets better by running away."

Winn took several deep breaths before finally nodding.

"Great," Alex said, "Go see Dwayne for a jacket."

Alex walked over to Shanoa and Kara.

"Shanoa, you ready?"

Shanoa made a throwing knife materialize in her hand.

"Did I ever tell you that slavers are my second favorite things to kill?"

"What's the first?" Kara asked.

"Nazis!" she replied in a singsong voice.

"Of course it is. Good luck, both of you."

Alex and Shanoa walked over to where the other squad members were gathered near the portal. After a minute or so, Winn joined them, his hands visibly shaking. Alex touched his shoulder lightly.

"You'll do fine."

The portal reopened. The complete squad walked through, Alex and Shanoa taking point and ready to kill anything that moved. Night had fallen on the planet, and the canyon was empty.

"Okay…" Winn breathed, "I am in outer space."

"And if you don't want to stay in outer space forever, figure out a way to get that back open," Alex said, pointing to the deactivating portal.

"It did this when Kara hopped back. It only stays open for a little while at a time, probably power-saving measure," Winn replied.

"Just make sure it's open by the time we come back."

"Wait, wait, 'come back'?"

"You'll be fine."

Alex walked away with the rest of the squad, leaving Winn to fuss to himself for a bit before diving into code and technology.

"I'm not a Red Shirt," he muttered to himself like a mantra, "I'm not a Red Shirt."

The squad continued on for a bit before Shanoa brought them to a halt.

"We're being watched."

An alien poked his ridged head up from the rocks, his hands raised.

"Peace, peace! Jo Gunraf mean no harm."

"You speak English?" Alex asked, not lowering her gun.

"Jo dissected a human once, learned your tongue," he replied in a quiet voice before shuddering, "Disgusting pink thing."

"We're looking for other humans. Ones brought through the portal."

"Yes, Jo seen them. Taken to Red Fortress where they sell carbon life forms like you. Selling them like animals."

"I hate when we're right," Alex muttered.

"Can you show us the way?" Shanoa asked.

"Fortress bad," Jo said, shaking his head repeatedly, "Many weapons, no way out."

All of the squad members raised their weapons.

"We didn't come here to buy," Shanoa said, conjuring a sword, "We came to raise Hell."

Jo grimaced, but could see that there would not been any dissuading. So he motioned them to follow.

"But Jo only take you so far. Not entering fortress."

"Fair enough," Alex said.

 **oOo**

" _Hey,"_ said one lizard man to the other.

" _Yeah_?"

" _You ever wonder why we're here? Like, what our life choices were that led us to be muscle for slavers?"_

" _I don't know about you, but I just like guns."_

" _Then why not sell them instead of life forms?"_

" _Well—"_

The reason was forever lost to time, as the door behind them exploded inward, killing them both.

Alex and Shanoa's team breached the opening, checking all sides for any hostiles. Some appeared soon, drawn by the sound of the explosion, but a hail of bullets greeted them.

One alien managed to get past the fire and charge Alex, only for her to twist his outstretched arm and fling him to the ground, all while grabbing his gun from his hand. He tried to get up, but she shot him in the head with her new side arm, then whirled around and killed another lizard man that was trying to get at her back. He flew several feet back and crashed to the floor with a hole in his chest.

She started between the dead lizard and the alien gun in her hand. Then she patted the barrel lightly.

"I'm keeping you."

"Finished?" Shanoa asked, dropping the alien who's neck she had just snapped, "We have work to do."

The DEO squad tore through the compound, guided by Shanoa, who kept sniffing for the smell of human blood. Finally, they came upon an alcove. Behind an energy barrier stood a group of humans, huddled together in fear, but they looked up in hope as the agents entered the room.

"Come with us if you want to live," Shanoa intoned.

Alex rolled her eyes and blasted the control panel on the wall, lowering the field.

"Check for injuries. Dwayne, Johnson, Shuster, Reeve, watch the exits."

Alex and a few other agents checked over the humans. Aside from some bumps and bruises, they were in good condition.

"They tried not to hurt us too bad," said a blonde woman, "Didn't want to hurt their stock, I guess."

"You're safe now," Alex said.

"I kept praying for help," she said, "I was honestly expecting Supergirl."

"She wanted to, but the red sun of this world weakens her powers."

"You know her?"

"Friends from work," Shanoa said lightly.

"Contacts!" Shuster shouted, "Four lizards, one human, and one ugly mother-"

"Mine!"

Shanoa burst into her mist form and surged past the agents and into the hallway they were watching. The sounds of hissing and screaming echoed, then a sound like thunder and a sickening snap.

"And who's she supposed to be?" asked the blonde woman.

"Scary," Alex replied.

Shanoa came back quickly, frog-marching a human in a red dress with them.

"Do any of you recognize her? She seemed important."

"Well, well, well. Veronica Sinclair, alias Roulette," Alex said, "How'd you get stuck here?"

"What do you except?" the woman snarled, "After your friend Supergirl busted my fight club, I had to find somewhere else to do go. One of my fighters told me about this place, Slavers' Moon."

"And you decided to take human trafficking to the next level. You're sick. How much blood money did you get in exchange for selling out your own species?"

"Actually, I think it's more like blood diamonds," Shanoa replied, pulling Roulette's arm up to reveal several diamond-encrusted bracelets, "And the answer is clearly a lot."

"The planet's lousy with them," Roulette said casually, "They're like dirt to the Maaldorians."

"Well it ends now," Alex said, "And I thought your little gladiator death matches were disgusting. This is low."

Roulette looked unfazed by Alex's comments, but her tune quickly changed at the next words.

"Can I eat her?" Shanoa asked, her eyes flickering red, "No one would miss her."

"Let's hold off on that. I'd rather see her butt behind bars," Alex replied, "But if she misbehaves on the way out, you can have a snack."

Roulette paled at Shanoa's menacing chuckle, squeaking out "I'll be good."

"Let's move out, people!" Alex shouted.

The DEO agents formed a protective circle around the humans, two larger men taking over guarding Roulette so Shanoa could keep mobile. She used her mist to skirt the edges of the formation, switching her position to react to any danger and back up the squad.

The lizard men started to drop off after half a dozen bolts of lightning from her.

The group exited the fortress, and fire came down from the walls.

"Shanoa!"

"On it!"

Mist surged upward and blocked the alien's sight lines before shooting forth and ramming into the sniper nests. The screams of the lizard men could be heard from far off as the humans rushed away.

"I see what you mean by scary," the blonde woman said to Alex, "What kind of alien is she, anyway?"

"It's complicated."

A pair of lizard men suddenly sprang up in front of them, only to get suddenly cut down by laser bolts. Jo Gunraf stepped out from behind the rocks, shouldering a plasma rifle.

"You didn't bolt?" Alex asked.

"Jo help carbon forms. Carbon forms get Jo off planet forever?"

"Sure, whatever, just come on."

The group finally reached the portal. Alex saw Winn standing over a prone lizard, holding a rock and breathing heavily. Laughter bubbled up from his throat.

"I'm not a Red Shirt!"

"Congratulations," Alex shouted as she ran up, "Portal?"

Shanoa's mist surged up, coalescing into solidity and throwing a fireball behind her.

"Start the engines, flyboy!"

Winn made a panicked noise and shot over to the control panel, hitting a few keys and getting the portal to hum to life. The DEO agents herded the humans through. Alex, Winn, and Shanoa were the last ones through.

"Time to go," Alex said.

"Wait!"

Shanoa muttered a string of liquid-sounding syllables, and a shimmering substance appeared in her hand. She slapped it onto the side of the control panel, and it stuck like a glob of jelly.

"Okay, now time to go."

The three dove through the portal as more lizard men turned the corner. The second they were on the other side, Shanoa turned around and snapped her fingers. A booming sound echoed from the other side before the portal fizzled out.

"And that's how I make a bomb," she said with a flourish.

Her statement was met with thunderous applause.

"Excellent job, all around," J'onn said as the cheers died down, "Let's get these people some medical attention."

Kara stepped forward, back in her civilian identity, and hugged Alex tight. Then she turned to the blonde woman.

"Izzy Williams?"

"Yes, but how-"

"My name is Kara Danvers, I'm a reporter. You mother came to our offices begging for help, and I ended up following the trail here."

"And you called the special forces?"

"To be fair, this one is my sister," Kara said, elbowing Alex.

Izzy walked forward and hugged Kara.

"Thank you."

"If you're up for it, I'd like to ask you some questions. Get your story out there."

"If it'll help her get thrown in jail, sure," Izzy said, jerking her thumb over to the sullen Roulette.

Kara blinked in shock.

"Alex, is that-"

"Yes. Ignore her for now."

Roulette took offense to that, and opened her mouth to object, but a wolf-like growl from Shanoa cowed her.

Jo Gunraf sniffed the air heavily.

"Earth smell funny. It always smell like this?"

Kara gave Alex a look.

"What happened over there?"

 **oOo**

Kara spent time with the freed people, getting their stories as they were being treated. She rapidly typed up an article while she waited for Izzy, who had twisted her ankle during the escape and kept going through sheer adrenaline, but needed some extra care because of it.

When the time came, Kara called Izzy's mother and asked her to come to Cat Co.

The sight of mother and daughter reuniting warmed Kara's heart. After spending a minute lost in her daughter's presence, Mrs. Williams yanked Kara into the hug, whispering her tearful thanks.

Kara soon left them to their apologies and affirmations of love.

"I love my job," she said with pride.

She tried not to feel as much pride when she politely rubbed Snapper's nose in the fact that the lead he dismissed as useless had become a great story.

She failed miserably.

* * *

 _Would you believe I didn't catch the Dwayne Johnson joke until after I had written it?_

 _If you're wondering about the scene between Alex and Maggie where the latter finds out about the Supergirl truth…yeah, that's going to be a little different._

 _Going to go on a small break for a while, but stay tuned. We'll be back._


	10. Heroes or Monsters?

_Hey-ho people! Normal service has been restored!_

 _Okay, since we were on break for a bit, I'm just going to throw the disclaimer up again._ _I don't own Supergirl. DC Comics owns the character, and the TV series is owned by Warner Bros and the CW. And_ _ _Superman and related works were created by Jerry Seigel and Joe Shuster._ _

_Back to business. Now this, this turned philosophical and angsty kind of quickly._

 _I'm not sure how or why._

* * *

 **Supergirl: Blood Ties**

Chapter 10

Heroes or Monsters?

"Livewire," Alex groaned as she looked over the damaged prison cell, "Supergirl's going to flip."

"Gotta be honest," Maggie said, standing up from her investigations, "I freaking loved Leslie Willis' radio show before she went nuts."

"Don't bring that up around Supergirl, Livewire's kind of her nemesis. Matter of fact, don't bring it up around Kara, either. In addition to threatening Cat Grant, which Kara did _not_ like, Willis had some…not very nice things to say about gay and bisexual people. It hit close to home and she got really teed off."

Maggie cast a confused look at Alex.

"Wait, you came out only a few months ago. Is Kara gay?"

"Bi. She doesn't really advertise it, though. Hell, I only found out recently, and I shared a room with her for years."

"Huh," Maggie said, "Neither Danvers sister is straight. What are the odds?"

A commotion from down the hall made the two women pause.

"Freedom of the press, buddy!" came a cry in a familiar voice.

"How long do you think they can hold her off?" Maggie whispered.

"I give it about five seconds," Alex replied.

"Ha, ten at least. She's way too polite."

"She's also a dog with a bone for this stuff. Loser buys dinner?"

"Deal."

Alex counted down on her fingers, and when she hit one, she pointed to the door just as Kara walked in, pushing past a prison guard.

"Sorry," she said to him before turning to Maggie and Alex.

"How are you so strong?" the guard asked.

"Forget about it, she's with us," Maggie said.

The guard left, and Alex grinned at Maggie.

"Pizza from Mario's?"

"Fine."

"So, how did this happen?" Kara asked, ignoring the playful betting that had become common in Alex and Maggie's relationship.

"Looks like an inmate named Lisa Gold and a thug disguised as a guard helped her out," Maggie said.

"Or she kidnapped them," Kara growled.

"Until we know for sure what happened, let's stick to the facts. This was well staged and well thought out.

"And we know Livewire's not one for thoughts," Alex added.

"Yeah, she's more like kill this, electrocute that," Kara admitted, "Either way, that inmate and her friend are probably already dead. The second she got a free shot-"

"We'll be keeping our eyes and ears open, and I know Supergirl will be too," Maggie said, "It's just a matter of time before we get her."

Kara still grumbled.

 **oOo**

"Ladies and gentlemen, the one, the only, LIVEWIRE!"

Winn shot Livewire's file up onto the big screen with a flourish and proceeded to continue this showman routine.

"Who knows what havoc she will wreak when she resurfaces. Maybe she'll turn all her girlfriends evil again, I don't know! We're talking about full on rats in the attic crazy, people. Except the rats are electrified and the attic is on fire! Behold, ye mighty…and despair."

But Kara was having none of it.

"Winn, cut it out, this is serious. Livewire is despicable. She never should have been in a human facility, all the human parts of her are gone. She should have been here, where we could make sure that she didn't get out!"

The computer monitor that Kara had a hand on during her rant cracked and broke under her grip, shocking her back to reality.

"What…what was that, a toy?" she said, trying to brush it off.

"No, it was expensive," J'onn replied, "We get it, Kara. She brings death and destruction, but that's not an excuse for freaking out. Calm down."

Kara opened her mouth to reply, but Alex's call from across the room caught his attention, and he walked off to talk to her. So Kara just stood there, stewing in her emotions.

"Hey, are you okay?" Winn asked, "If it's about the showman bit I did, I'm just trying to ease the tension."

"It's not that…"

"Then what is it?"

Kara sighed before replying.

"A woman gifted with incredible power, far beyond normal humans. Doesn't that sound familiar? Leslie could have done good. I gave her chances to back down, to stop the madness, but she rejected all of them. She kept on hurting, killing."

Kara looked at the picture on the screens.

"I look at her, and I see a monster."

Winn didn't voice the next thought, the question as to whether or not Kara thought the same about herself, now that she was a vampire. Thankfully, Kara herself changed the subject.

"What's going on with Alex and J'onn?"

"You didn't hear?" Winn asked, "This Livewire stuff has really turned your head around. It's M'gann."

Kara started. When J'onn had found out M'gann was a White Martian, he locked her away in the DEO. Kara had tried to argue that it wasn't fair, that M'gann hadn't done anything, but J'onn refused to talk about it. Kara had visited M'gann several times, even brought her some food during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, but M'gann hadn't been talkative.

"What about her?"

"She started speaking in tongues and then fell into a coma. J'onn doesn't want to admit it, but he's worried."

"Is there anything we can do?"

"Alex has it in hand, if something comes up, she'll tell us."

Kara muttered uncertainly. Between M'gann's crisis and Livewire's escape, it seemed the day for worry.

 **oOo**

Supergirl growled to herself as she sped toward the police station. She was right, not even a full day had passed, and Livewire was already back to her old tricks. This time, she was going directly to cop killing.

"I'm ending this before it goes any further," she snarled.

She arrived at the police station's garage to see several cops trying to shoot her, and slammed into the ground between them.

"Give it up, Leslie. You know how this is going to end."

But then the woman with the white hair and sparks dancing at her fingers stepped into the light.

"I'm not Leslie," she grinned, electricity surging into her arms.

Kara reared back as if slapped. This wasn't Livewire.

"What in Rao's name?" she gasped.

The buzz of electricity behind her made her whirl around, and she saw a tongue of electricity flying from an overhead light, forming into a second pale figure with sparks dancing down his arms, this one male.

She whipped her head between the two electrified people.

"What?" she squeaked before shaking her head and refocusing.

She flew forward and sent the woman flying with a single strike before whirling around to face the man, a spell on her lips. She sped to the side to dodge his lightning bolt before unleashing her beam of power, but he just turned into electricity and surged into the lights.

Supergirl kept her head on a swivel, trying to figure out where he went. Suddenly, he was behind her, unleashing an electrified punch before he was even fully manifest, but knocking her back all the same. This gave the woman time to recover and craft an electric whip, with which she bound Supergirl's hands together. A pull on the whip sent Supergirl flying and crashing into a support beam.

She shook her head and threw her bound arms up, a ball of fire shooting forth. The woman dodged, but lost her focus on the whip, and Supergirl was able to free herself. But the man was there, sending powerful bolts of electricity into her.

Just then, she heard the roar of a motorcycle.

Guardian zoomed in, hopping off his motorcycle and firing a bola at the man. The snare wrapped around his feet and tripped him up, letting Supergirl stand up and dodge a retaliating bolt from the woman.

Guardian proceeded to cover the cops escape, keeping his shield at the ready. Supergirl did her best to keep the electric villains' attention on her, but the man decided to take a potshot anyway. Supergirl was busy dodging bolt after bolt from the female, and didn't see the male's bolt flying until it was too late.

Thankfully, Guardian was in a better position, and put himself and his shield between the cop and the lightning. The shield held, although the impact sent both men flying.

Supergirl retaliated, forming a hammer out of shadow and hurling it at the man. It struck his leg, and a loud crack echoed through the garage, followed by a scream of pain.

The woman dove toward him in a surge of electricity and grabbed him.

"That'll heal, but we need to go," she said.

The man nodded, and the two turned into electricity and zoomed into the lights, soon vanishing.

Supergirl cursed under her breath in Kryptonian, then went to check on the fallen. Both the cop and Guardian lay on the ground, the former groaning slightly. Supergirl checked the cop over before doing the same to Guardian, taking off his helmet to get better access to his neck to check for a pulse.

But the face under the mask made her stop dead.

"James?"

 **oOo**

Kara stared silently at the scene, taking it in. Alex was checking over James, quietly saying that he didn't have a concussion at least. Winn was sitting off to the side, looking worried.

She waited until Alex had stepped back and put away her tools before speaking up.

"It's a cool suit," she said with forced calm.

James said nothing.

"Your work?" she asked Winn, who nodded.

Alex hissed lightly. This was going to hurt.

"So, when were you going to tell me?"

"I wanted to tell you from the beginning. I told him to spill last night," Winn said.

"I told you to do it weeks ago," Alex said.

"So that's it? Even my sister is keeping secrets from me?" Kara asked.

"Leave them out of this," James said, "This is between us."

"Fine. Alex, Winn, could you give us the room, please?"

The two beat a hasty retreat, but Kara noticed that they didn't stray too far.

"So," she said to James.

"So," he replied in kind.

Kara forced back a sigh. It was going to be one of those conversations.

"I am calm. I am going to try to remain that way. But I just want to know why. We were friends, once upon a time we might have been more, so you owe me that much at least."

James stood up.

"Fine. It's because that feeling you told me about, that thing that makes you want to make everything better…I feel that too. I wanted to do more. I've tried so many different ways in my life to help people, and it just isn't enough. But this is. Being Guardian…it makes me feel more like me than I ever have as James Olsen."

Kara looked at him, pondering this.

"I guess I can understand that. But here's the thing: you're not Superman. You're not me. You're _human_. And doing this is going to get you killed. One mistake, one bit of human error, and that's it, you're done. You don't get a strike. You're not me."

"Got that right," he muttered.

"What was that?"

"Fine, I am human," James said, "But then what are you?"

"Oh, and there it is. You're still mad about _it_. Well I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I was still freaking out about it. Some days, I wonder if I ever stopped!"

"Don't give me that. Here you are blasting me about keeping a dangerous secret when you're doing the same thing! And for the record, you don't get to decide who's a hero and who isn't. I am meant for this. Who are you to tell me how or who to be. Especially when…"

He trailed off for a moment, but Kara wasn't having it.

"No, go on. Say it. I dare you to say it!"

"Fine! You're a vampire! Are you happy now, Kara? You're a blood-sucking creature of the night! You expect me to stand here and take this high-and-mighty routine from you when I don't know how many people you've been sinking your teeth into behind my back? You expect me to trust your word when I don't know if I can trust you not to eat the next person who pushes you too far? This has the potential to be Red K times a hundred, and you don't seem to act like it! You just keep going on with the Miss Sunshine routine while hiding something massive in your shadow."

He shook his head.

"You must be an alien, because I can't see how on Earth you could keep up that lie."

Kara stared at him. Then there was a flash of movement.

Later, James would realize just how much control Kara had possessed even in a fit of anger, seeing as how his jaw hadn't been broken from that slap.

"How dare you," she growled, her fangs fully on display to drive her point home, "You think I want this? You think I want to drink blood? You think I want to deal with this hunger all the damn time? I can always feel it, scratching in the back of my mind, telling me to feed. But I don't give in to it. I don't feed off humans no matter how much my system screams for warm blood. The only one I've willingly drunk from is Alex, but we _trust each other_. She knows what I'm going through, and does everything she can to help me. She does her best to understand. Winn, J'onn, Barry, they've all taken the time to try and understand, because they _know me_ and _trust me_. If you can't do the same…then I wonder if we were ever friends."

She started to walk away, hands gripping her arms in an attempt at a calming hug for herself. She stopped at the door, but didn't turn back as she spoke again.

"And for the record, I keep going because it's all I can do. Because if I don't, I'll sink into despair and probably never find my way back. And when that happens, I'll lose everything tethering me to this world, and I wouldn't be able to stop myself from finishing it, hoping to find solace in Rao's light. I keep going because I didn't survive the end of Krypton just to fall to _this_."

And she left, leaving James reeling.

Kara walked down the hall and stopped before Winn and Alex, who were looking at her with wide eyes.

"You heard all of that, didn't you?"

Both of them nodded.

"Winn, why did you agree to this insanity? Why help him?"

"If I hadn't, he would have done it anyway, and then definitely gotten himself killed. Without my support, he would have been dead several times over."

"And you didn't want that on your conscience."

Winn nodded and added "If it's any consolation, your diet is a frequent argument. I try to get him to talk to you about it, he shuts me down, I tell him it's you, he doesn't want to trust you anymore, lather, rinse, repeat. I thought I'd wear him down eventually, but…"

"Well thanks for trying, I guess."

"Kara, what did you mean by finishing it?" Alex asked in a small voice.

Kara just stared at her with sad eyes. Alex's breath caught in her throat, and she pulled her sister into a hug.

"Please don't go."

"You help me be whole, Alex. With your help, I can survive. That's how it's always been, right from the beginning."

Alex gave a teary laugh.

" _El Mayarah_ ," she whispered.

" _El Mayarah_ ," Kara whispered back.

 **oOo**

The sisters had spent time just comforting each other before deciding to head home. Given the shock that they had just experienced, Alex elected to spend the night at Kara's. But before leaving the DEO, Alex wanted to talk to J'onn about M'gann. Curious as to what exactly was going on, Kara went with, getting a quick version of events.

M'gann's problem wasn't physical, and given how Martians were susceptible to psychic phenomena, Alex had thought the problem might be mental in nature. But J'onn refused to help. The only thing that could drag M'gann out of her coma was a full Martian link, and J'onn had reacted with hostility to the idea, refusing to give a White Martian anything from his life and people.

They found J'onn standing in the door of M'gann's former cell, confusion pouring off him in waves.

"Do you want to know how she's doing?" Alex asked, catching his attention.

"I know," he muttered, "I always know. She could be halfway across the city, and I would…feel her."

J'onn shifted in place a bit, cross his arms.

"The final cruelty of our war that I should still feel tied to those creatures."

Alex paused at that before speaking again.

"When I needed her…when _you_ needed her, she opened up a vein for you. I realize that act is getting mundane because of Kara, but this is different. M'gann had to have known that there was a chance saving you would reveal her as a White Martian. She did it anyway."

J'onn looked a little ashamed.

"She said that she tried to help your kind."

"I suspect that's true," J'onn said.

"Then what's the harm in the bond? I mean, if you can see into her past, maybe you can find some good in there."

"I don't want to forgive her," he finally admitted.

"Why?"

J'onn hesitated before speaking again.

"Hate becomes your reason for living when you've lost everything that you love. If I find that there was some good in their kind…"

J'onn trailed off. Kara spoke up for the first time.

"What measure is a monster? You've hated and feared them for so long, and now with M'gann, you're worried that some of it might be misplaced."

J'onn didn't answer.

"Forgiveness isn't something that you give to somebody who's hurt you," Alex said, "Forgiveness is something you give to yourself."

J'onn pondered this, turning to look at the cell M'gann had slept in for so long, a cell he forced on her. Alex touched Kara briefly before gesturing that they should leave, and Kara nodded. But before walking out the door, she turned back.

"J'onn, I lost everything too. For a while, I did hate. I hated everyone for leaving me alone. But I soon realized that I couldn't keep it up, that living with only hate was a lousy way to live. It's time for you to reach that point."

 **oOo**

The next morning, Alex checked over some inventory in her lab. Kara sat on a stool, jotting a few notes in her notepad, ideas for how to work an article on Livewire.

"Think we'll get a hit on Livewire today?" Kara asked, "Or those other two? What is going on there, you think?"

"Beats the heck out of me, Kara," Alex replied, "But it's probably something insane."

"Why do you think I'm wearing the suit?" Kara asked, flicking her cape, "I want to be ready to go the second we hear anything."

"You're really serious about this."

"I fight monsters, Alex."

Alex chose not to comment on this, considering the word 'monster' was a loaded one these days.

"You eat this morning?" she asked.

"Had waffles."

"Not what I meant, and you know it."

Kara's head fell with a groan. Alex rolled her eyes.

"Don't be like that, you can have some of mine."

Alex took a seat and Kara shifted closer to her, tilting her sister's head. Despite having done this several times since the end of November, Kara always felt nervous when she fed off Alex.

Taking the several deep breaths that had become customary, Kara took Alex's hand and gave it a squeeze before popping her fangs and biting down.

For Alex's side, she'd gotten used to giving her blood in this manner. It was certainly quicker than filling a bag. She'd gotten used to the feeling of the blood being drank, and it actually felt a little relaxing. And if it helped Kara…

Things were just finishing up when the two heard a gasp from the doorway. Kara lifted her mouth from Alex's neck and looked up to see a stunned Maggie in the doorway. Alex turned to see what the fuss was about and froze herself. It was only a warm feeling on her neck that shook her out of it, blood seeping from the bite.

She raised a finger toward Maggie, then poked Kara and said "Lick."

Kara shook herself out of her stunned stupor, licking the bite area to close up the punctures and then stepping three feet away from Alex. Alex then spun around to face Maggie and raised her hands.

"Don't freak out!"

Maggie gave a very slow nod.

"It's okay. I offered. She needed something fresh, and I was more than happy to give it. Total consent. I trust her not to take too much. Trust her with a lot of things, actually. There is nothing nefarious going on."

Maggie looked from Alex, who was trying to look as calm and nonthreatening as possible, to Supergirl, who looked more nervous than she thought possible. Alex, who had bits of dried blood on her neck and shirt collar, and Supergirl, who had fangs and lips that were still red.

"So…this is something that happens often?" she asked slowly.

"Kind of," Supergirl replied.

"And you two are…close…"

"Quite," Alex said calmly.

Maggie looked stricken for a moment before resettling her features.

"Well, I'm sorry to interrupt something so…intimate…"

Kara and Alex stopped dead, their brains shorting out. It was only as Maggie was starting to walk away, muttering something about knowing how an Emily felt, that Kara sprang back to life.

"No!" she shouted, "No, no, no, nononono. Hell no, actually. No from the dimension of no created by the God of No. Just…just no."

"No?" asked a suddenly confused Maggie.

"NO!" shouted Alex, who looked like she was about to throw up.

"Then what did I just walk into?" Maggie asked.

Supergirl looked conflicted for a moment before nodding.

"Okay, let me show you."

She walked over to a table and bent underneath it, dragging out a footlocker.

"I keep spare clothes in here," she said, partly to Maggie, partly to herself.

Alex stood up, wobbling a bit from the blood loss before catching herself on the table.

"Alex, sit back down," Supergirl said without even turning.

"But…are you sure?"

Supergirl pulled a glasses case out of the locker before answering.

"If you're this serious about Maggie, and I know you are, then she's going to find out eventually."

She put on the glasses and pulled back her hair.

"Hi, Maggie."

Maggie's jaw dropped.

"Kara?" she all but screeched.

"Kara," Alex nodded.

"Kara!" Kara added with a smile and a flourish from her free hand.

Maggie looked from one sister to the other before grabbing a stool and taking a seat.

"Explain."

And they did. They gave a brief version of how Kara had come to Earth, and then went into the vampirism. When they were finally finished, Maggie studied the two of them.

"Maggie, I don't want there to be anymore secrets between us," Alex said, "But if—"

Maggie raised a hand, and then turned to Kara.

"The glasses really aren't that great a disguise."

The two were still for a moment before Alex burst out laughing.

"I keep telling her that," she gasped between laughs.

"I don't have to stand here and take this," Kara growled, setting her glasses down, "I have crazy lighting people to search for."

Kara stalked away, and Alex calmed down after a minute.

"Maggie, be honest, are you okay with all this?" Alex asked hesitantly.

"Little Danvers is like a puppy," Maggie scoffed, "Her weird diet doesn't seem to have changed that."

Alex breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good, the last guy who found out like this didn't take it well."

"Who is he, I can shoot him if you want."

"Don't bother, he and Kara had a big blow-up about something else a little bit ago. The vampirism was brought up. She slapped him over it."

"Did it break his jaw?"

"Sadly, no."

Kara suddenly rushed back into the room.

"Winn found something, he wants all hands on deck."

Alex and Maggie traded a look before following Kara to the central room. J'onn met them there.

"Security tapes for the prison were messed up, but I finally managed to piece this together," Winn said, hitting a prompt on his tablet.

On the main screen, security images from Livewire's breakout were shown. She was being dragged down the hall by a man and a woman, and Kara recognized them.

"Those two fought me last night. They had Livewire's powers."

On the screen, Livewire struggled, and the man hit her with a nightstick. Livewire went limp, and the woman put a bag over her head before the dragging began again.

"Now, I'm no jailbreak expert," Winn began, but Maggie cut him off.

"She didn't escape. She was taken."

Kara's world rocked.

"She was the victim," she whispered, "She's not the monster here."

"Agent Schott, have you had any luck tracking Livewire or the people who took her?" J'onn asked.

"Not yet," Winn said sheepishly, "I've been having trouble delineating her energy from other wavelengths."

"Keep at it. Detective Sawyer, can you keep a SWAT team on standby?"

"Easy. Lot of cops looking to get even on the Livewire wannabes," Maggie said, turning to go.

"Alex, can I see you in the medbay?"

Alex nodded, and not having much to do, Kara followed.

J'onn was looking over M'gann, looking conflicted.

"She probably doesn't have much longer," Alex said.

"I can see her heart slowing down," Kara added, squinting her eyes to focus her vision.

J'onn stared at M'gann for a moment before his face shifted to one of determination.

"We're not saying good-bye. I'm bringing her back. I'm going to try the bond, it's the right thing to do."

"About time you saw sense," Alex smirked.

J'onn took a seat next to M'gann.

"I've never attempted this with a White Martian," he said nervously, "I don't know what will happen."

"If things get hairy, I'll pull you out," Alex said.

J'onn nodded and looked to Kara.

"I need you to do something for me."

"Of course. Anything."

"I'm going to relive some things. Deaths, the war…"

"What do you need?"

"Stay with me. Both of you."

The sisters nodded.

"We're not leaving," Kara said.

"We're here for you, J'onn," Alex added.

They each placed a hand on his shoulder, and he steeled himself.

Finally, he reached out and put his hand on M'gann's forehead. His eyes glowed red, and then he relaxed.

The minutes seemed to stretch into hours as the sisters watched over them. At certain points, J'onn seemed to say something, but they couldn't make it out.

Finally, he spoke a little louder.

"I'm here with you. I see you. You are my friend, M'gann M'orzz. You are forgiven. It's time to come home."

And with that, J'onn started awake, breathing heavily. M'gann stirred, calling J'onn's name.

"I'm here, M'gann. I'm still here."

"We're all here," Kara said.

She opened her eyes, seeing the people gathered here for here. And she smiled.

Alex helped her sit up and went to the monitor next to her bed, muttering to herself. She spent the next several minutes looking M'gann over before moving onto J'onn checking to make sure that the psychic linking hadn't had some lingering effects.

Midway through this, Shanoa burst into the room.

"Your friend Winn is an idiot," she said.

"What'd he do?" Kara asked.

"He and Guardian have gone after Livewire themselves."

"WHAT?"

"We need to—" J'onn began, but staggered a bit when he tried to stand.

"You're still wasted from the mind meld you did," Kara said, "I can handle this myself."

"Not hardly," Shanoa said, misting into her combat attire, "I'm coming with."

Kara paused for a moment before nodding.

"Let's fly."

 **oOo**

Guardian sat chained on the ground, glaring at the scientist. Livewire was strapped to a chair and glowering at the same man, her feet trapped by a strange machine connected to more machinery behind the chair.

" _So all this is to make super soldiers?_ " he growled, the voice modulator in his helmet still working despite the lighting attack that he had been previously hit with.

"Pretty much," the madman said.

"Like I said, copyright infringement," Livewire snarled, "You know your little knockoffs won't last, right? Drawing off my electricity isn't going to keep working."

"Well," the scientist said nonchalantly, "You can't make an omelet without breaking some eggs."

" _So what now?"_

"I'm glad you asked. See, I need some upgraded models, and you will make the perfect test subject. Not sure how much power I'm going to need. I might have to drain my little battery completely off, but that's business."

A flash of fear ran across Livewire's face.

" _I will never fight for you_ ," Guardian spat.

"You will," the mad scientist replied before looking at Livewire, "You, you might definitely die."

The man picked up a remote and flipped a switch. Livewire's chair surged to life, and she screamed. The machine trapping her feet hummed menacingly. Veins on her neck began to glow as the electricity was forcibly drained from her. The lights above flickered, and Guardian screamed at the man to stop, but he just smiled in dark glee.

"What do you even care?" he asked, "She's a bad guy. A real monster."

Suddenly, Supergirl crashed through the ceiling and snatched the remote out of the scientist's hand, crushing it before shoving him away.

She looked from the chained Guardian to the pale and panting Livewire before speaking.

"What did I step into?"

"Short version, the Reanimator over there's been draining my electricity to make his knockoffs," Livewire wheezed, "Wonder Boy here tried to stop it, but the doc gave himself a juice-up too."

"I hate to say I told you so," Supergirl said as she ripped the shackles off Guardian, "Wait, no I don't."

The Livewire knockoffs surged into the room. A cloud of mist descended from the ceiling and stopped between them, reforming into Shanoa, who hurled a throwing knife at each one. The woman managed to duck, but the man took it to the shoulder and grunted in pain.

"Guardian and I can take these two," Shanoa said, forming a rapier, "Get Livewire."

She took a swing at the woman, who twisted out of the way. Shanoa pressed the attack. The man yanked the knife from his shoulder and tried to attack her from behind, but Guardian slammed into him.

" _Can't believe I'm helping you_ ," he grunted, recognizing her from the day he'd found out about Kara's vampirism.

"Boy, I have superhuman speed and strength, and I can do magic," she replied, popping her fangs, "If anything, I'm helping you."

With the copies being dealt with, Supergirl turned to Livewire. For an instant, she looked her over, seeing how beaten down and tired the woman looked.

"I'm sorry you had to go through this," she said.

"Concern noted, now get me out of here."

"This might sting a little."

Supergirl breathed a steady stream of freeze breath at the machine encircling Livewire's feet. The cold soon caused it to short-circuit, and it exploded. The blast threw Supergirl and Livewire free.

Livewire stood up slowly. Electricity surged down from the lights above, and she hummed in satisfaction.

"Much better," she groaned in pleasure, "That was nice of you. Stupid, but nice."

Livewire stood over the groggy Supergirl, electricity surging into her hand.

"You don't look so hot, blondie. Let me warm you up."

"You could try to kill me," Supergirl said, "But you wouldn't be who you are if not for me. This is who you are now, for better or worse."

She pointed at the rising scientist.

"He tried to take your powers from you, not me. We may not be allies, but I will punish him for you. What do you say?"

Livewire glared at her, the electricity still humming in her hand. Finally, she groaned and let it dissipate, offering her hand to help Supergirl up.

"We'll discuss this after I deal with Doctor Frankenstein."

"I'll help you in a minute."

Over at the other battle, Shanoa turned to mist to avoid a punch from the electric man, and he met Guardian's shield and stumbled. Guardian turned to block a blast from the woman, and Shanoa reformed and crafted a hammer, which she brought down on the man's leg.

"Shit, not again!" he yelled in pain, only to be silenced when the hammer struck his head.

Shanoa pushed against the head of the hammer, squashing it into a dark mass in her other hand. She wound up and threw, the raw magic nailing the woman in the stomach and sending her flying. Her journey was interrupted by Supergirl, who clotheslined the woman. Supergirl picked her up and threw her towards Guardian, who slammed his shield out and knocked her into Shanoa, who lashed out with a fist.

"Not exactly anything to write home about, are they?" she asked.

Meanwhile, Livewire crafted an electric whip. She lashed and caught the scientist in the throat.

"There's only one Livewire, you piece of crap," she growled before surging some electricity down the line and shocking him.

He tried to get free and lashed out with his own electricity, but Livewire simply overwhelmed it with her own power.

"You said it yourself. You experimented on yourself first. So your phase one isn't as good as your minions, and even they aren't in my caliber."

Electricity surged into her free hand, and she lashed out, continually shocking him.

"You're going to die here."

"Leslie, don't kill him!" Supergirl shouted as she ran up.

"You said we'd punish him," Livewire shot back.

"Not like this. He'll go to jail for this. He'll never hurt you or anyone else again, I swear!"

"Not good enough," Livewire said, "Do you know how much pain this asshole put me through? All for science. Well, no more."

She upped the voltage, and the man screamed louder.

"Leslie! Don't!"

"My name is _LIVEWIRE!_ " she shouted, "And all this guy wanted to do was make monsters. Well, I'm showing him what a real monster looks like. It's only fitting. Everyone else already sees it. Might as well run with it. No real choice, when you think about it."

And that hit a nerve.

Supergirl tackled Livewire away, grabbing her and slamming her into a support pillar.

"Look at me," she growled.

Livewire tried to struggle, but Supergirl was having none of it. She shook the electric woman and grabbed her face, forcing her eyes forward.

"LOOK AT ME!" she shouted, her fangs out and her eyes aglow, "You think this was my choice? You think I don't agonize about _this_ every day. People would call me a monster, and sometimes, I'd find myself agreeing. But I keep trying harder because that's who I am. Who I _choose_ to be. We don't _have_ to be monsters. We _can_ be more."

Livewire just looked at her, eyes wide. She gave off a soft "Good God."

"Not particularly," Supergirl grunted, releasing the other woman.

"How long…how long have you been…"

"Long enough for me to know what I'm talking about."

Supergirl sighed and backed up, giving Livewire some space.

"Your choice, Leslie. It's always been your choice. You can keep being the monster they think you are, or you can do something else. Choose."

The electric woman and the vampire stared at each other for the longest time. The former flinched.

"Don't try to find me."

And then she was gone, zapping into the nearest light fixture and slipping away down the wires.

Guardian looked upon this scene, his mind awhirl. He felt a push at his back.

"That give you anything to chew on?" Shanoa asked.

But he would only walk away, grunting about needing to think.

 **oOo**

Kara stood on the balcony, staring out at the busy city. She heard someone walk up behind her.

"I heard you reading Winn the riot act," she said as J'onn joined her, "As well as the last thing you said."

"Whatever your feelings on the matter, I believe Guardian could be an asset," J'onn said, "I thought you'd be happy that there's less change of Mr. Olsen getting himself killed."

"James is…complicated right now."

They spent some time in silence for a moment before Kara spoke up.

"Do you agree with me letting Livewire go?"

"I think you've given her something to think about."

"If she causes trouble, I'll stop her. But I'm hoping she comes for help."

J'onn hummed.

"I feel like I owe everyone an apology," Kara said, "I got a little crazy at the beginning there. It's just…Leslie was never a particularly good person, but she wasn't a monster until she got powers. And maybe I was so hard on her this time because I was working through my own monster issues. But that was wrong. I kept using her as a scapegoat for my feelings on the subject, and it wasn't fair. To her or me."

"I know the feeling," J'onn said, "I was so wrapped up in seeing M'gann as a White Martian that I was almost willing to let her die because of my old hatred."

"What _did_ make you change your mind?"

"I decided to stop living in hate. That only makes me a monster."

"Amen, Reverend J'onzz," Kara said with a smile.

"While I was in there, pulling M'gann out, I figured something out."

"Oh?"

"Monsters don't care. But we do."

He looked at Kara, his gaze piercing.

"You care. That keeps you in the light."

Kara could only hug him.

* * *

 _I'm not sure if I made it clear in-story, but some time has passed. The events of Chapters 6 and 7 took place surrounding Thanksgiving, 8 a day or two after the Medusa incident, and the bulk of 9 not long after Kara got back from fighting the Dominators._

 _This chapter involves a bit of a timeskip. I mentioned that Christmas had come and gone in this chapter, but to be clear, this is taking place in early January, and the next major calendar point is Valentine's Day, which will be mentioned in the relevant chapter. Until then, just assume the next few chapters take place in January and the first week of February._


	11. Martians

_In this chapter, MARS ATTACKS!_

 _…_

 _I'm not sorry._

* * *

 **Supergirl: Blood Ties**

Chapter 11

Martians

"You can't be serious," Kara gasped, her eyes wide.

"Deadly," Lena replied with an evil grin.

"NO."

"YES."

"You're insane."

"And yet…"

"He didn't!"

"He did."

Kara gaped at Lena for a minute before finally bursting out in laughter.

"You dyed all his underwear pink!"

"I did," Lena singsonged.

"And he still wore them!"

"I think Lex was too embarrassed to speak of it, or admit that I had gotten one over on him."

Kara continued to laugh. Lena waited until it had died down before speaking again.

"Okay, your turn."

The name of the game was childhood stories. Kara and Lena were seated on the couch in Lena's office, eating the lunch Kara had brought and swapping stories.

"Okay, I got one. This is a little different though, it takes place when my parents were still alive."

Lena's face fell a bit. Up until now, all Kara's stories had been with the Danvers, involving Eliza and Alex, and once even Jeremiah. She had heard so little about Kara's birth parents that she got the feeling Kara didn't like to dwell on them.

"So, for starters, I was a smart toddler," Kara began, "I hadn't started talking yet, but all the little tests my parents ran, with various toys and stuff, showed that I was pretty far ahead for my age. So, one time, my aunt was home and we were all having dinner together."

"Your aunt?"

"Yeah, she was in the military, so she wasn't home very often. But I loved it when she visited, because she adored me. Never had children, you see, so she decided to be the cool aunt and drive her sister up the wall. She's the one who told me this story. So, everyone was chatting, and I was finishing up my meal. And, having developed a love of food from an early age-"

"That I can believe," Lena interjected, recalling how Kara had inhaled her lunch.

"I wanted more. So I said so."

Silence greeted this.

"Kara, that's not very funny."

"I hadn't started talking yet. That was the first time I'd spoken coherently."

Lena started.

"So…your first words-"

"Were 'more food!' My parents were mortified. My aunt couldn't breathe, she was laughing too hard."

And so was Lena. When she finally finished, she asked a new question.

"So if you had an aunt, why didn't she take care of you when your parents died?"

Kara's face fell. Lena immediately back-tracked.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I—"

"No, it's fine. Just…you know how I said she was in the military? She…was killed in the line of duty."

"I'm sorry," Lena said, the mood effectively sobered.

"You know what's funny? A while back, I found out some stuff. She did some questionable things in her career. I almost didn't want to believe it, because I loved her so much, but…"

"I think I get it. Sorry for bringing it up."

"I've made my peace with it," Kara said, recalling Astra's coffin floating away into the sky to join her sister in Rao's light.

Looking for a change in subject, Lena picked up one of the leftover perogies.

"So Miss Foodie, where exactly did you get these? They're good."

Chicago, but Kara didn't want to tell her that.

"Oh, I find these places around. It's kind of a hobby to see what I can find."

"So where?"

"Now, now, Lena. A girl's got to have some secrets."

Lena scowled playfully as she popped the small dumpling into her mouth.

She really wasn't sure why she was complaining. She and Kara had been having these lunch dates with semi-regularity since late November. Sometimes in her office, sometimes out. Usually, the food was Kara's idea, her skill at finding good places seemingly unmatched. But occasionally, Lena did the figurative cooking.

She was pretty sure Kara was never going to forgive her for the kale incident.

But it wasn't the food or the admittedly amazing Christmas cookies that Kara brought one time that Lena loved so much. It was her infectious spirit, her sunny demeanor, and her willing and sympathetic ear. Kara made Lena feel like she could have a friend, something her life had been extremely short on for one reason or another.

"You know, I don't think I've ever said thank you," Lena said suddenly.

"For what?"

"Just…for being you."

Kara tilted her head and gave her a confused look.

"It's just…my childhood was pretty lonely. Most of the children I interacted with were stuck-up aristocrat spawn."

"I can guess the type."

"Most of the people I met in boarding school or college were intimidated by my name. And then Lex happened, and people gave me a wide berth for a different reason. But you…I've never had a friend like you."

"Oh, Lena," Kara said sympathetically.

Kara leaned forward to give her a hug.

"I'm not going anywhere, you can count on that. I'll always be your friend. You'll never have to thank me for that."

Kara felt and heard Lena's heart flutter at that.

"Mind if I do anyway?" Lena asked as she returned the hug.

It was slow and hesitant, as if Lena was unused to hugs. Kara resolved then and there to make sure Lena never felt like she had to hesitate in a hug between them.

"I should be thanking you a little too," Kara said, "I've got a lot of stress in my life, but coming here, seeing you…I feel better."

"Oh, Kara…anything I can do to help."

A heartbeat sped up. Kara wasn't sure whose it was. She did know that hugging Lena made her feel so warm. It was a feeling she found herself enjoying immensely.

Lena finally broke the hug, even if she didn't want to.

"Thanks for lunch, Kara. But I have to get back to the grind. I'm trying to leverage a deal away from Maxwell Lord."

Kara made a face.

"Ugh, that guy."

"Tell me about it. Whenever I met him at functions, I wanted to take a shower immediately afterwards. How do you know him?"

"Oh, Supergirl complained about him several times," Kara groused, "Apparently, he was involved in some shady stuff, but she could never pin anything on him. And one time, my sister had to get some information out of him, and he leveraged it into a date. Which she hated, by the way. Even Miss Grant would rather stab herself than deal with him on a regular basis."

"So you don't mind if I'm a little ruthless for this, then?"

"Kick his ass, Lena."

"Yay," Lena replied, a cheerfully evil grin on her face, "So what about you? Any big plans for the weekend?"

"Well, Alex and I were going to celebrate my birthday…"

"What?" Lena almost shouted, "Your birthday is this weekend? Why didn't you tell me?"

Kara honestly wasn't sure why. She supposed it never came up, but it seemed a poor excuse. She and Lena had been learning a lot about each other. These lunch dates were filled with talking, comparing notes about various things. Music, books, movies, hobbies, secret childhood wishes, etc.

Kara liked to paint, an easel taking up a permanent spot in her apartment and her paintings often sold at local art shows, and Lena had a surprising love of heavy metal, albums of Dragonforce and Metallica mixed in with more obvious guesses like Mozart and Johnny Cash. Lena was secretly a sci-fi nerd to rival Winn, and Kara had a love of musicals that stretched back to her first days with the Danvers. Kara could sing like a goddess, and Lena could dance like a demon. Both women had always wanted dogs as children, but neither household allowed it, Eliza having been allergic and Lillian only allowing fish. Lena had learned to drive in a Rolls Royce, and Kara's claustrophobic streak concerning cars meant that she still only knew how to drive a motorcycle. Kara was still fascinated by birds, and they often appeared in her paintings. Lena loved to immerse herself in the stories and myths of her ancestral Ireland, and had partly picked up the accent as a way to connect (another reason having been to spite Lillian, who could trace her lineage to England). Kara practiced an obscure religion that her biological parents had practiced (which, from an Earth perspective, technically…), and Lena was repurposing the alien detection technology as tools for gene mapping and learning about alien physiologies and diseases to better facilitate health care.

Well, there was always a few surprises to be had here or there.

"I don't like to make a big deal about it. Besides, you haven't told me your birthday either."

"I don't really celebrate."

"And that's bad. Honestly though, it's not that big a deal. I haven't made an enterprise out of it since my parents died. Usually Alex and I just split some cupcakes and have a night in."

"And I thought my birthdays were low key," Lena scoffed.

"Tell you what, you can do something bigger for me next year if it bothers you that much. Really, I just don't feel like I've got a lot to celebrate."

"Why not?"

Kara began to feel a pressure behind her ears. She heard the rush of blood in Lena's veins, and felt a pull at her gut.

"It's personal," she ground out, clamping down on the instincts, "I don't really want to talk about it."

Lena looked concerned, but Kara waved her off.

"Really, I'm fine."

 **oOo**

Kara wasn't fine.

Alex had forgotten what week it was, and she had Maggie had made concert plans. Both apologized profusely, but Kara waved them off.

"It's your first concert as a couple, and I know how much Alex loves the Barenaked Ladies. You two have fun."

"Are you sure?" Alex asked.

"Go, go. Have fun."

Alex gave her sister a quick kiss on the cheek before rushing off with Maggie.

Kara waited until they were gone before slumping in her seat. She looked around the alien bar, seeing either couples or people who seemed much more relaxed than her.

"Rough day?" came a voice, and Kara turned to see M'gann.

"Rough couple of months," Kara said.

"You know," M'gann said, dropping her voice, "It's not your usual, but I know a guy who can get you some Thanagarian snarebeast blood. Might be a change of pace."

Kara started and looked her with wide eyes.

"I picked up on your…condition accidently during a psychic conversation with J'onn. Don't worry, I can keep a secret."

Kara groaned a bit.

"I'd really rather not talk about it. And thanks for the offer, but…I really don't want to deal with that right now."

"Fair enough. If you change your mind later, let me know."

M'gann left after that, a bag of trash in her hand. Kara closed her eyes and let the noise of the bar wash over her. Suddenly, she heard J'onn's voice.

" _I do trust you. It's just that you said your people know where you are. The White Martians are coming."_

Kara jumped to her feet, making to the door and keeping her ears open to the conversation.

" _As an agent of the DEO, I have a duty to protect this Earth. If any of those monsters show up, I have to be ready."_

" _Well like I said, they're coming,"_ M'gann was saying _, "But they're not here yet. So you can stop following-"_

And then there was a roar, and Kara decided to get her game face on.

She had just finished switching to her Supergirl suit when she saw J'onn, in his own combat mode, get punched to the ground by a hulking white monster. The alien made a grab for M'gann, also in the form of a battle-ready Green Martian, but Supergirl intervened.

"Fulgur!"

A bolt of lightning shot from her hand, striking the White Martian and sending it stumbling back.

"Mind if I cut in?"

The White Martian studied her for a moment before launching himself into the sky. Supergirl followed, but it was surprisingly nimble, losing her over the tall buildings and rooftops of National City.

 **oOo**

"Anything, Agent Schott?" J'onn asked.

"Zip," Winn said, poking at his console and highlighting areas of the city on the main screens, "This guy is surprisingly hard to track."

"He gave me the slip. That's harder to do these days," Kara added, nodding her head.

"Well, we're monitoring every probable target, so when he rears his head, we'll get him."

"In that case, I'll prep some strike teams," J'onn said, only for Kara to stop him with a hand to his shoulder.

"You should stay here at the DEO for protection," she said.

"It's not after J'onn," M'gann spoke up, "It's here for me. Hunting me. The White Martians want me to pay for my war crimes."

"What they call war crimes, we call destroying a death camp." Kara muttered sulfurously.

"They don't care, they only see me being responsible for White Martian deaths. They're telling me so, psychically. I can hear quiet messages, cast out like a net."

"Then you should remain here," J'onn said, "If you go outside, you're vulnerable."

"I can't put you all in that kind of danger!"

"It's what we do," Supergirl argued, "We protect people."

"I don't need protection," she shot back, starting to walk away.

"M'gann," J'onn called, "You're making a big mistake. Risking yourself helps no one."

"This is my fight, J'onn," she insisted, before walking out to the balcony and taking off.

"That went well," Winn muttered.

 **oOo**

Kara spent the next half-hour at the DEO. A she pondered where this story was going next, she spotted Alex stepping into the room, and rushed over to her.

"Shouldn't you be at your concert?"

"Ah, well," Alex said sheepishly, "I wanted to check in."

"What's the real reason?" Kara asked, crossing her arms.

"What makes you think-"

"Your heartbeat's nervous."

"Damn," Alex muttered under her breath.

"I have a lot of ways to tell something's wrong with you, Alex," Kara said.

"Maggie noticed how distracted I was, so she told me to come talk to you. I'm going to meet her at the concert later. I just…were you mad at me?"

"Alex, no."

"Because it felt like you were mad at me. And then I felt guilty for trying to have fun-"

"Alex. I'm not mad. I want you to have fun with your girlfriend. I'm never going to be mad at you for spending time with Maggie. The fact you have someone to love is a good thing, and it always will be. Truth is, I didn't feel like doing much this year anyway. It's been a bad time, and I didn't feel like celebrating."

Alex lurched forward and hugged her.

"Really, Alex, you're okay."

"I just don't want there to be any bad blood between us," Alex whispered.

"Never," Kara whispered.

"And for the record, just because I'm spending more time with Maggie doesn't mean I'm abandoning you. I'd never do that. I will always, _always_ , be here for you. I promise."

Kara smiled, breathing in her sister's scent. It was familiar and comforting.

"If it makes you feel better, I let slip to Lena that it was my birthday. I shot down her offers to celebrate too."

"You know, as much as I worried at first of you getting close to a Luthor, from everything you've told me, it really sounds like she's a good friend."

"Yeah, she is," Kara smiled.

The two soon parted and made their way to the main console room, where Winn was muttering with Vasquez about some new tracking techniques. Two other agents, Woo and Daly were also present, running their own simulations. Suddenly, J'onn and M'gann entered the room.

Apparently, J'onn had caught M'gann trying to skip town, and convinced her that it was better to stand with people who cared about her than to go it alone, citing his own, hundreds-year-long experience in loneliness. M'gann agreed to come to the DEO.

"If you're done airing my dirty laundry," M'gann muttered, "I know who's been hunting me. His name is Armek. He's a master huntsman, very good at finding and killing people."

"That's bad," Winn said.

"He's also my ex-husband."

"That's worse," Alex said.

"We'll do what we can to help," Kara said.

As J'onn, M'gann, and Winn went off to the side to discuss how best to track Armek, Kara saw someone coming from the balcony. Her blood ran cold.

"Guys," she said, catching their attention to the _second_ M'gann headed toward them.

"J'onn, I thought about what you said," she began, only to slip into a Martian curse the second she clapped eyes on her doppelganger.

Winn backpedaled away from the first M'gann, who was giving an evil grin.

"You Greens never learn, do you?" she asked, her eyes turning pure white.

J'onn lunged at the false M'gann, and the two began to trade blows. Kara stepped in front of the true M'gann protectively, ready to fire lightning the second she could. Alex pulled her sidearm free and aimed the alien gun at the fight, but couldn't get a clear shot. Woo had much the same luck. Vasquez slid out of the way of the wrestling Martians just as J'onn got the upper hand, slamming his foe into the bank of screens. The power surge of the broken electronics caused the lights to flicker rapidly before dying.

Winn managed to skirt over to a computer and activate the auxiliary power, but J'onn was alone.

As M'gann gave a cry of despair, J'onn stormed over to a computer and initiated a full lockdown of the building.

"Nothing gets in, nothing gets out," he said as the door to the balcony closed and locked, "The only way to catch that thing is to trap it in here."

"With us?" Winn hissed.

"We don't even know where it went," Alex said, still blinking rapidly from the sudden shift in lighting.

"Or where it didn't go," Winn shot back, "It could still be here."

"It could be any of us," Kara said, an unsettling feeling washing over her.

But it wasn't the usual feeling of paranoia and fear. There was something else, she could feel it. Something was wrong.

Everyone gathered around the table, staring at each other.

"Okay, this is easy, all we need to do is ask each other personal questions," Winn said, "Stuff that only we'd know the answer to. Like, what's that scented candle that I hate?"

"Teakwood and tobacco," Kara said.

"That won't work," J'onn said, "They can read minds too. They know all your preferences, everything that makes you who you are."

Silence descended.

"What are you looking at?" Woo asked.

"What?" asked Vasquez.

Woo pulled his sidearm, and everyone else pulled theirs. J'onn and Kara called out for everyone to stand down.

"I wasn't looking at you," Vasquez growled.

"Yes, she was. She's the White Martian."

"This isn't helping!" Alex said strongly, "Holster your sidearms."

Woo whipped his gun toward Alex, but Kara stepped between them, fangs bared.

"Now you _really_ better put that away," she growled.

"But it could be her," he shot back, "It could be any of you."

"Come on!" J'onn shouted, "We are not going to lose it here."

"J'onn you can read minds. Can't you tell?" Kara asked.

J'onn concentrated, looking at everyone around him before sighing.

"Some kind of psychic interference."

"Well, isn't that convenient?" Woo snarled.

"Come on man. Alex is right, this isn't helping," Daly said, putting his gun on the table in a show of faith.

"He's after me," M'gann said, "I should just turn myself over to him."

"Not an option," Kara said, "That's not how we do things."

"The fake you said it was a guy called Armek," Daly said, "Your ex, apparently. That true?"

"Yes, although it was an arrangement, not a choice. And you all have the right to know that he is the worst of my kind."

"Fantastic. We're stuck in here with a sadistic psychic shapeshifter," Winn moaned, "That makes me feel _so_ much better."

"Doesn't matter," said Kara, "We're going to find him and we're going to beat him."

"First things first, we follow Daly's lead and surrender our sidearms," said Alex.

"You crazy?" Woo shouted, and that set everyone off.

"That's enough!" J'onn shouted, quieting the din of arguing, "This is one way to determine who is the White Martian and who isn't."

They all trooped up to the lab and Winn lit a Bunsen burner at J'onn's command, the flame burning high.

"There was a time when we were hiding on Mars," J'onn intoned, his voice hypnotic as he stared into the fire, "Trying to build a resistance to the White Martians. We worked out of a network of caves, but they would infiltrate us, send in spies to wreak havoc. Anyone who came to the mouth of the cave had to put their hand to the fire."

"What did the fire do?" Kara asked.

M'gann stepped forward and put her hand near the flame. The skin of her palm seemed to shiver, turning snow white in the heat.

"Oh, that's not creepy at all," Winn said.

"Proximity to fire messes up Martian shapeshifting," M'gann said, "Armek won't be able to hide."

"Do Vasquez first," Woo said, "She was so quick to deny that she was a Martian."

"Because I'm not, dumbass," Vasquez shot back, but she stepped up the fire and put her hand out.

It didn't change.

"Now you," she said to Woo, and he got the same result.

"This reminds me of The Thing. You know the 80s movie with Kurt Russel?" said Kara, sticking her finger directly into the fire just to show off.

"When did you see that movie?" Alex asked.

"I didn't. Lena was talking about it the other day. Apparently, it was her first R-rated movie. Lex showed it to her."

"And suddenly his irrational fear/hatred of aliens makes the slightest bit more sense," Vasquez snarked.

Daly gave a chuckle at that as he stepped up and got a negative result.

Kara looked around at everyone. The strange feeling she'd been having since Armek's attack had intensified, and she was almost sure she knew what it was.

J'onn stared at the fire, fear reflected in his eyes. M'gann spoke to him calmly in Martian, putting a hand on his free arm to give him strength. He took a deep breath, and put his hand near the flame. His palm shivered and turned green.

"Okay, Winn, you're up," Kara said.

"What? Come on, it's me."

"Everyone has to do it."

He leaned back at the strength of Kara's voice.

"Okay, geez."

He picked up the burner and put his hand near the flame. It suddenly warped into a large claw.

"You got me," he smirked evilly before whipping the burner around.

There was a cold wind, and the flame died.

"Yeah, how did you think that was going to work out?" Kara growled.

The false Winn kicked over the table, knocking away Alex, Vasquez, Woo, and Daly. Supergirl and J'onn charged him, but he grabbed the faster Kryptonian and twisted her into J'onn. He then bolted out the door. M'gann tried to follow him, but he grabbed a piece of glassware from near the door and threw it at her, clocking her in the head and causing her to stagger a bit. He leapt over the railing and was gone.

Everyone recovered swiftly and went down to the main room. Daly and Alex cracked open a small armory off the main room and gave everyone weapons.

"Now we can at least hunt him down," Woo said, checking his rifle.

"Motion sensors are offline," Vasquez called from one of the computers, "But the containment cells are still locked."

"Thank Rao," Kara said, "As Winn, he had access to the whole system. He could have done a lot of damage."

Suddenly alarms began to blare.

"Spoke too soon, Supergirl," Vasquez called out, "It's the reactor that powers the building. Temperature's rising, it's going to overload soon."

"He sabotaged it," J'onn growled, "This building's going to explode, and it could take ten city blocks with it. Can you override?"

"Negative. He re-encoded everything with Winn's intellect. Since it's Winn's coding, we'd need him to get around it."

"Then that's another thing to look for," M'gann said, shifting into her Green Martian form, far more comfortable in it than her White form, "Armek would have kept him close-by to maintain a psychic link. It was how he played the part so well."

"Why would he want this?" Daly asked, "Wouldn't he just be blowing himself up?"

"Armek doesn't care about that. All that matters is the mission, and he'd gladly give his life for it."

"Teams of two," J'onn said, "Find Winn and wake him up to undo this. And hunt down Armek. Vasquez, how long do we have until the reactor explodes?"

"I'd say a little over fifteen minutes."

"Then let's not waste time."

"Okay," said Kara, "But first…"

She whipped around and grabbed Alex by the throat, lifting her up.

"You aren't my sister," she hissed, fangs at the ready.

Alex's eyes turned white.

"What gave it away?" the false Alex croaked in a hissing voice.

"Oh, it's pretty close, but I know my sister better than anyone. I know her voice, I know her mannerisms, I know her heartbeat, I know her blood, and I know her scent. Took me a while to catch on, I'll give you that. But you really couldn't have fooled me for long. Now where's Alex?"

"Oh, somewhere in the bowels of the building. You're too late regardless. Armek cannot be stopped. We will all die in glorious fire."

"Sorry to disappoint you, but fire isn't happening. As for dying…J'onn, M'gann, please don't take this personally."

"Take what personally?" M'gann asked.

With a wolf-like growl, Kara lunged and closed her jaws on the White Martian's neck. The disguised alien contorted in pain, but Kara kept a firm grip, even as it turned back to its natural form.

Kara drank her fill, then dropped the dead Martian on the floor, the neck wound gushing with undrunk blood.

"A lot more blood there than a human. And it tasted like pomegranates and cheddar. Weird combo. Sorry again, guys."

"No problem," M'gann squeaked, eyes still on the body.

"Should I be concerned with how willingly you did that?" J'onn asked.

"This jerk hurt Alex. Tell me you didn't want to rip him apart too."

"I'm surprised you were able to bite down," Vasquez said, "Martians are tough."

"I could bite into steel before," Kara replied, tapping her fangs, "These things can pierce titanium. Alex and I have done some extensive testing."

"Geez, with everything going on, my nightmares are going to be _very_ interesting tonight," Daly said.

 **oOo**

"You're worried."

Kara looked over at Vasquez, who she had been partnered with. The other woman shrugged.

"You were projecting. And your fangs are still out."

"I can't help it. Alex is in trouble. And I'm having trouble picking up her heartbeat."

"You usually can?"

"I always liked to listen for it when I got nervous," Kara explained, "And since I became a vampire, I've been able to pick up on it easier. But I'm having issues now and that scares me."

"Hey, Armek's buddy would have kept Alex alive to use a psychic link, you know that. Whatever he was using to keep her unconscious, it's probably suppressing her vitals. That, and the building is laced with lead and sound baffles, so you'd have a hard time anyway."

"You make it sound so simple, Vasquez. That we just need to relax and we'll find Alex in time."

"We will. And I think we've been working together long enough for you to call me Susan."

The two walked for a time in companionable silence before Kara broke it.

"How did you react, when you heard about the vampirism?"

"I didn't much care," Susan replied, "You've saved us all so many times. You're you, that couldn't change, not really. And opening a vein to help you is the least I could do. You ask anyone here, they'll tell you the same thing. Anything happens, we got your back, Kara."

"Thanks," Kara said with a light chuckle, "I kind of already knew, but it's nice to hear it, you know?"

Vasquez noticed that Kara's hand was still shaking, and pointed to it. Kara grabbed it to make it stop.

"I've been on edge ever since Armek attacked us in the main room. Before, I could tell something was wrong, and I put the pieces together that Alex, or rather the not-Alex, was the cause. Now it's worse, because I don't know where she really is. Everything is screaming at me to find her."

"And once again, we will."

The comms suddenly crackled to life.

" _Kara, I found Alex. M'gann's staying with her for a bit, but Winn and I are headed to the reactor room to shut it down."_

J'onn's words brought Kara to a halt, but she felt a hand at her shoulder.

"Go, I'll try to meet J'onn and Winn at the reactor," Vasquez said.

Kara looked at her with relief, then burst into a cloud of mist. The cloud raced upward into the vents.

"Okay, that is cool."

 **oOo**

Kara burst out of the vent and reformed. M'gann spun around at the noise, but relaxed upon seeing Kara reforming from the cloud.

"Martians can't do that, so you're definitely not Armek."

"I have Alex, go help J'onn."

M'gann nodded and her form glowed red before passing through the wall.

Alex sat with her back to the wall, rubbing her head.

"I hate White Martians," she muttered, picking some gunk from her shirt with her free hand.

"Are you okay?" Kara asked, kneeling down.

Alex gave her sister the side eye and said "I was just cocooned, you tell me."

Kara wrapped her sister in a hug, listening to the familiar heartbeat. Her worry drained away with every thump. She spent another minute fussing over her sister before Alex put her foot down.

"I'll be fine from here, Kara. But you have work to do. There are still a pair of White Martians loose in the building, and they need you to stop them. You can't hang around here all night. J'onn needs your help."

Kara sighed, conceding Alex's point.

"Fine. And it's actually Martian. Singular. I took out the other one. He was impersonating you, and I did _not_ tolerate that."

Alex picked up on the hint of menace in Kara's voice.

"Kara, what did you do?"

Kara tapped at her mouth. Alex stared at her for a few seconds before speaking again.

"How'd he taste?"

"Weird. I really hope I don't get indigestion from that."

"Superman once swallowed cesium, and that stuff explodes when it hits water. I think you'll be fine. Now get moving!"

Supergirl turned into mist and slipped into the vents, angling downward toward the reactor room. She emerged just outside it, to see J'onn and M'gann double-teaming a hulking figure. The two worked in perfect harmony, weaving around Armek's blows and striking out, covering each other's assault. He moved to strike J'onn, and M'gann slammed into his open side. He lashed out and shoved M'gann away, and J'onn was there to take her place with a powerful punch to the face.

Finally, Armek threw out his arms, striking them both out of the sky. He roared over their fallen bodies, only to go stumbling back from a bolt of lightning.

"Tagging in!" Supergirl shouted, rushing forward and slamming Armek with an uppercut. She then misted around his rising body, reforming above him and slamming him to the ground.

He lashed out, but she turned to mist and his attack passed through her. As he rose, looking over at the still fallen J'onn and growling, he felt a pain in the back of his neck.

" _Your journey is done_ ," came M'gann's voice, growled in his ear in Martian.

As he wondered how his god of death could have forsaken him in his mission, Armek saw a fiery being before him, shaking his head.

" **Poor form, little White** ," said H'ronmeer, Death itself for all Martians, " **Very poor form**."

As Armek's body fell to the floor, M'gann released the broken pipe she had stabbed him with and looked over at Kara.

"Don't drink this one," M'gann said dryly.

"I'm full anyway. And I don't think I like your tone."

An explosion of relief near the reactor drew everyone's attention to Winn.

"And we're done. Reactor re-stabilized."

A door at the other end of the room burst open, revealing Vasquez, gun at the ready. She quickly surveyed the room before lowering it with a stunned expression.

"What did I miss?"

 **oOo**

Kara looked on as M'gann and J'onn talked. M'gann had decided to go back to Mars, to find other White Martians like her, who didn't want to be defined by the hatred of their kind. She had to try, try to stand and fight for a better tomorrow. It was to be a long journey, and she wasn't sure when she'd be back.

J'onn had been concerned, but respected her decision, wishing her the best.

They exchanged a psychic good-bye before M'gann left.

Kara slowly walked up to J'onn, giving him a concerned look.

"I've been lonely for so long," J'onn said, "There's been a hole in my heart since…since…"

"M'yri'ah," Kara said, reverently speaking the name of J'onn's late wife.

"I never thought it would be filled…and then I met M'gann. And I know she feels the same. She told me."

J'onn looked up at the stars, and Kara gave him a hug.

"She'll be back. Life finds a way."

* * *

 _For those of you wondering, Daly is named after the voice actor who portrayed Superman in the late 90s Superman animated series. Woo is actually named after a Marvel character, a notable SHIELD agent. It seemed like a good name to give a government agent of Asian descent, and the show never directly gave us a name for the agent who was a few seconds away from shooting Vasquez in paranoia._


	12. Luthors

_I had a lot of fun adapting this episode._

* * *

 **Supergirl: Blood Ties**

Chapter 12

Luthors

"For something called a Bloody Mary, it's not very bloody," Shanoa said.

"It's an alien bar, not a vampire bar," Winn said.

"I was making a joke."

Kara, J'onn, Winn, and Shanoa were seated in the alien bar, waiting for Alex to show up. Kara could barely contain her excitement. This was going to be great.

She looked over at her friends and frowned.

"J'onn, you look down," Kara said.

J'onn stared into his drink for a moment before answering.

"It's…just the first time I've been back here since M'gann left."

"She did what she felt she had to."

"I understand that…but all the same…"

"SO!" Winn exclaimed, trying to bring some levity back, "I am very excited to meet Alex's new mystery man."

Out of the corner of her eye, Kara saw Shanoa snicker lightly.

"Kara, give us some deets," Winn continued.

"Like?"

"Like what's he do for a living?"

"Oh. Cop."

She didn't trust herself for longer sentences. The look on Winn's face was going to be _priceless_.

"Yeah, no way Alex Danvers dates someone who doesn't own a firearm," Winn snickered.

As if on cue, Alex walked up with someone.

"Hey guys. You all remember Maggie, right?"

Shanoa didn't miss a beat.

"I actually don't think we've had the pleasure, at least formally. Shanoa Tepes, nice to meet you."

"Maggie Sawyer, likewise," Maggie replied, returning the offered handshake, "Interesting name."

"Yes, yes, very East meets West. I'm Irish, and my husband's Romanian. We've heard the jokes."

"Alex. You're, uh," Winn stuttered nervously, "I didn't know, did you know?"

He pointed to J'onn, who smirked.

"Of course I knew, I'm psychic," J'onn said.

"I knew too. I can smell pheromones. I had Alex pegged as gay the second I met her," Shanoa added.

"How come neither of you said anything?" asked Alex.

"Not for me to say," J'onn said, smiling at Alex and Maggie, "Good for you, Alex."

"What he said," said Shanoa, "Now, I'm going to see if they have a more appropriate drink for me."

"THAT is not on the menu," Kara said.

"I meant Irish whiskey. I had THAT earlier."

As Shanoa walked away, Maggie asked, "Do I want to know what THAT is?"

"Let me put it this way," said Kara, "She has teeth like mine."

"Of course she does," Maggie said weakly.

"Maggie are you okay?" Alex asked.

"I got used to aliens, I can get used to this," she sighed, "Winn, you play pool?"

"Yeah, of course."

"No you don't," Kara deadpanned.

"It is geometry with sticks, folks. Pool is easy. Let's go."

Winn slugged back some more of his beer and stood up, oblivious to Kara shaking her head behind him. As Winn and Maggie made their way to the pool table, J'onn rose as well.

"Alex, my money's on your girl."

"Yes, thanks, me too."

"I can feel your faith," Winn called out.

Kara rolled her eyes, and that made her catch sight of the TV above the bar. The news was on, showing an update of the now underway trial of Lillian Luthor, in particular today's testimony by Lena.

"Oh, Lena."

She looked calm in the picture, but Kara knew that Lena was really twisted up over this. Lillian hadn't been particularly good at the job, but she was still Lena's mother. Seeing her mother go through the same process her brother went through, despite how well-deserved both pieces of justice were, had to be hard on her.

"Maybe I'll see her after this. She really needs a friend, now more than ever."

 **oOo**

Lena scowled at the TV, the news report about her testimony in the trial.

" _Lillian Luthor's defense attorneys tried to downplay Lena Luthor's testimony, characterizing her statements as 'the angry rant of an estranged daughter'. Given the reported distance between the two, the statements don't ring entirely hollow."_

"You really shouldn't watch that channel," came a voice, "They're uber-conservative, even if it distorts things."

Lena turned to see Kara, holding up a paper bag.

"I felt like, considering what you're going through right now, you needed some fried sugary goodness in your life. You eat donuts, right?"

"Well," Lena said, taking the bag with a laugh, "I am human."

"So was it awful?" Kara asked as they sat on the couch.

"Actually, it felt good to testify. I got to say my piece, and finally distance myself from the Luthor name. And then I came back here to twelve calls from her lawyers."

Kara hissed in perceived pain.

"Yeah."

"Was she cursing you out?" Kara asked.

"No, she wants to see me. Maybe to curse me out in person, tell me my outfit in court was horrible, something like that. I never know with her. Honestly, though, I really don't care."

Lena picked at the glaze on her chosen donut, growing very quiet.

"I just…thought I was done with her, you know? Finally shut the door on being just a Luthor. And there she was, back on my phone sheet."

Kara felt her heart break at the lost look in Lena's eyes.

"Kara, be honest with me. I need your advice."

"Any time. I'm here for you."

"You don't think I should go see that monster, do you? Should I feel guilty for not wanting to talk to her?"

Kara ignored the use of the word monster, biting into her donut for time. She chewed thoughtfully and swallowed before speaking again.

"If you think it'll give you peace of mind, maybe you should try. Tell her how you really feel."

"Even if I did that, it wouldn't make much difference," Lena scoffed, tearing a piece off her donut savagely, "She's been the same way since the day I met her."

"My mother, my biological mother, she was pretty cold too. But I never doubted that, in her own way, she cared for me."

"Lucky you. I never felt that from Lillian."

"And that's on her, not you."

Kara took a second to recompose herself.

"Look, I've spent a good chunk of my life wishing I could talk to people who aren't here anymore. My parents, my aunt…as bad as Lillian was, she's still here. I think if you don't go, you'll always wonder if you should have. There are a lot of things left unsaid between me and my mother, and I always wonder what she would have thought of my life now."

Lena gave a sigh and popped the torn off piece of donut into her mouth.

"But in the end, Lena, it's your choice. I'll support whatever you decide to do."

Lena gave Kara a grateful look. Kara stared into Lena's eyes, seeing them shine. She loved seeing that…

 **oOo**

Kara sang wordlessly to herself as she dressed for bed. Suddenly, her phone rang.

"Lena?" she muttered to herself before answering.

"Lena, what's up?"

She heard heavy breathing at the other end of the line, and then Lena's strangled voice.

" _Kara?"_

Kara leapt to her feet and zeroed in on Lena's heartbeat. It sounded off.

"Lena, what's wrong? Where are you?"

" _Home…I talked to Lillian…she told me something…"_

"What did you say to you?"

Kara fought back a growl, because she finally figured out what was going on. Lena sounded distraught, and her heart beat irregularly from stress. Whatever Lillian said to Lena to put her in this state, Kara was going to make her pay for it.

" _Lionel had an affair…he discreetly made sure the woman was taken care of, especially when she got pregnant…but then she died, leaving her daughter all alone…so Lionel took the little girl home…"_

Kara sat down heavily, the angry wind leaving her sails.

"Lena…are you saying what I think you're saying?"

" _Lillian said it was the reason she was so hard…that all she could see was my mother's face, proof of what her husband had done…that Lionel made her keep her distance as well, ashamed of what he had done…oh God, Kara…"_

"Lena, Lena, stay with me. Talk to me."

" _I have to wonder if it's true. If I really am Lionel's bastard."_

"Don't call yourself that. You are Lena. That's what matters."

" _Does it? Ever since Lex, I've taken some comfort in the fact that I have no blood link to the Luthors. Now it turns out I do. What if the madness that took Lex takes me?"_

"That won't happen. I won't let it."

Kara took a breath.

"Lena, you are so much more than a last name, so much more than your family. You matter. Especially to me. Are you listening? You are so special to me, I want you to know that. I will be there for you. You matter to me. Do you understand?"

The line was silent for a bit. When Lena's voice came back, it was clogged with emotion, but it sounded just the tiniest bit happier. Kara heard Lena's heartbeat calm.

" _Thank you, Kara. I don't think I say it enough, but thank you. For everything."_

"Anytime, Lena. Really. Do you want me to come over? It sounds like you shouldn't be alone tonight."

" _No, no, I'll be fine. Just knowing you care is enough for now."_

"Is there anything else you need?"

" _No, no, you've done enough. Just…thank you, Kara."_

"I'll swing by after the trial tomorrow. We'll have a late lunch. Better yet, if nothing goes wrong, I'll meet you at the courthouse and we can go somewhere together."

" _I'd like that…tomorrow then?"_

"Tomorrow. Good night, Lena."

" _Good night, Kara."_

Kara kept the phone by her ear until she heard the dial tone. Then she kept her hearing on Lena's heart, listening to it as she fell asleep, letting the sound chase her worries away.

She would be there for Lena. She promised.

 **oOo**

"Mr. Corben, will you tell the court how you know Lillian Luthor?"

"She's the doctor who saved my life," Corben replied gruffly.

Kara sat in the audience, pecking away at some notes. That way, if Snapper asked, she could claim she was putting an article together. The worst he could do was have her work with another reporter on it.

But she was only half listening to the testimony. She kept her eye on Lena. Last night had been a shock, and Kara wanted to reiterate that she would be there for Lena.

A small part of her wondered why she was putting so much effort into Lena, but she mostly chalked it up to wanting to see her happy. Lena didn't smile enough, in Kara's opinion. Which was a shame, since she had such a pretty one. That was why Kara tried to make her smile as often as she could.

The prosecutor continued her examination, but Corben began to grow angry. He began to spout the Cadmus line, that aliens were a danger to the Earth, and that Lillian was trying to save humanity. The prosecutor tried to stop him, but he grew more agitated.

Kara felt the hairs on the back of her neck prickle. Something was wrong.

"Permission to treat the witness as hostile, Your Honor?" the prosecutor asked.

Kara saw Lillian nod her head, and Corben stood up.

"Allow me to treat you as hostile."

And then a blast of green energy erupted from his chest, slamming into the prosecutor and killing her instantly.

The crowd screamed and ran for the doors. The judge dove behind the bench for cover. Officers tried to stop him, but Corben tossed them aside like ragdolls. He calmly walked over to Lillian, ripped apart her handcuffs, and the two of them left the empty courtroom casually.

Kara looked to make sure no one was looking, then misted away.

Lillian and Metallo walked across the courthouse square, Corben firing blasts at anyone that got in their way.

Suddenly, a lamppost crashed to the ground in front of them.

"Trial's not done yet, Luthor," Supergirl shouted.

"Of course it isn't," Lillian said casually, "You're still alive."

Supergirl easily dodged the blasts Corben shot at her, and flung an energy blast of her own at him, knocking him off his feet.

"I've been learning some tricks since our last encounter, Corben."

Supergirl slammed into the ground in front of Lillian, cutting off her escape.

"You think you're so smart, then," Lillian smirked, "Quick decision time, you can stop me, or save them."

Lillian pointed to a crane a block away, and the rising Metallo fired a beam at it, cutting through the supports.

Supergirl didn't stop to think, but she did take a moment to glare at Lillian.

"You're a real bitch, you know that, right?"

Supergirl flew up and easily caught the top of the crane, bringing it slowly down to the ground. She spared a second to check with her powerful vision, but it only confirmed what she already knew. Lillian and Corben were gone.

 **oOo**

After taking a few minutes to check for injuries and scanning the area for any sign of a trail, Supergirl changed back to Kara. She called Jess to confirm that, yes, Lena had run back to her office, and then she rushed over to L-Corp and made a beeline to the top floor.

She found Lena pacing, muttering rapidly and holding a glass of scotch. She noted that the glass was pretty full.

"I thought you drank in moderation. Something about Lionel being an alcoholic?"

"It feels appropriate. And I needed something to calm my nerves."

Kara detected the scent of alcohol covering Lena, her keen nose picking up what most wouldn't. She gently took the glass out of Lena's hand.

"Something tells me you've had enough. You know I'm here for you, right?"

Kara led her to the couch, then sat her down before sitting down herself and wrapping Lena in a hug. She made it as tight as she dared, and muttered soft words of calm into Lena's ear. Slowly, Lena began to relax, melting into the warmth.

"You're okay, Lena. You're okay."

"I know what she's going to do," Lena said after a while, "Now that she's out, I know what she's going to do. She's going to do something to me. She's going to do something that makes me look horrible. Or she'll do something worse. I know her. Lex got his vengeful streak from her."

"My sister works for the government. We can get you a protective detail. We can figure this out."

"You should run, you know. You might get caught up in the trap."

Kara scoffed.

"I told you, I'm not going anywhere," she said, "I'm insulted you think I would."

"Do you have anywhere else to-"

"Lena, you aren't getting rid of me. And anything I have isn't as important as you are right now.

They stayed like that for a while, just enjoying each other's company.

After a while, Lena extricated herself from the hug, saying she had some paperwork to get through.

"Anything to distract myself, right?" she laughed drily.

"Healthier than the scotch, at least," Kara said, "You want me to stick around a little longer?"

"You can if you want, but I know Cat Co is probably busy with this Lillian thing, they'll need you."

"I actually haven't been over there since the trial, but my friend Celeste texted me a warning. It's a hornet's nest, both Olsen and Snapper are on the warpath. She told me to wait an hour or two so I don't get my head bitten off."

"Olsen? You mean James? I thought you would have made up by now. You used to call him a good friend."

"Not so much anymore," Kara said in a tone as cold as a tundra.

Lena looked at Kara worryingly, but any further conversation was tabled by new visitors. Maggie Sawyer entered the office with two officers.

"Maggie," Kara said with surprise, "Did you find Lillian?"

"No, we didn't. We're actually here on official business, Kara. I think it would be better if you waited outside while I talked to Ms. Luthor."

"No, I want her to stay," Lena said, shooting Kara a look.

Kara nodded, and gave Maggie a look that dared her to make her leave. Maggie sighed.

"Fine…the police were sent some surveillance footage I wanted to ask to you about."

Maggie brought out a small tablet and hit a command. A video began to play on it, revealing someone taking a glowing green rock out of a safe. The figure turned slightly, and revealed Lena's face.

Kara nearly swallowed her tongue, and a brief look at Lena told her that the other woman was just as surprised. Her heartbeat screamed shock, and her eyes were wide.

"That's not me," Lena said, a few steps away from shouting, "I don't know where you got that, but that's not me."

Kara heard Lena's heart. There was worry, but there was truth. Lena wasn't lying.

Maggie, however, just walked around the desk with a pair of handcuffs.

"Lena Luthor, you're under arrest for aiding and abetting a felon, accessory after the fact, conspiracy—"

"Hold on," Kara shouted, "Maggie, slow down, just let her explain—"

"Stay out of it, Kara," Maggie shot back, and all but dragged Lena away while reading her her rights.

"Kara, it's okay," Lena said as she was pulled away, "I'll be alright, don't worry about me."

Soon Kara was alone in the office. She stood there, still as stone, her mind awhirl and her heart beating madly.

Something deep inside her growled with extreme menace.

It had happened before, when Kara realized Alex had been replaced by a White Martian. She knew what it meant.

 _Her family was being hurt. Her cloud, her pack. It was in danger._

Kara's eyes narrowed. Her vision went red, and she felt her fangs start to make themselves known.

 _Someone needed to PAY!_

 **oOo**

Kara entered Cat Co, a woman on a mission. People buzzed around her like bees, and she heard Snapper scream about needing some art. James dashed by, but Kara reached out and pulled him back.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Don't get fangy, okay?" he whispered before answering her question, "We're crashing the cover."

"Our pub date's today! The cover's set."

"I know," James said, pulling away, "It's why they call it a crash."

Kara followed straight into Snapper's office, where James gave him a sheet.

"Did it myself," James said.

"Gotta say, Olsen, you've an eye for detail," Snapper said, looking it over.

Kara's blood ran cold, then boiling hot upon seeing the cover.

"You're putting Lena on the cover? And what's this headline? Are you serious with this? She doesn't need to be a front-page story!"

"She's arguably the most famous person in National City right now," Snapper shot back, "Her notorious brother's in prison, and she helped her terrorist mother escape custody. Of course I'm putting her on the cover, she's a Luthor."

"She didn't do it!"

Snapper looked at her like she'd grown a second head.

"Have you seen the video? Or are you letting a budding friendship corrupt your reporting. Confirmation bias, anyone?"

"I trust her! And for your purposes, she told me on the record that she didn't do it."

"She said, she said. This time we need more than a quote."

"Then I'll keep digging."

Snapper glared at her.

"Your gumption annoys me to no end. But, if you want to knock yourself out for tomorrow's cover—"

"That's not good enough!" Kara snapped, "You put this out there now, it'll never go away. People still think Macaulay Culkin is dead, for pity's sake!"

She saw James shrug and nod out of the corner of her eye, and rounded on him.

"James, come on, you know we can't print this."

James at least had the decency to look sheepish before replying, "I actually agree with Snapper on this one."

"WHAT?"

"Hey, don't bite my head off."

"No, no, nonono. Are you kidding me? Lena has done nothing but help. She called the police on her own mother over the Medusa virus-"

"And if she can betray her own mother, what's stopping her from pulling the long con on everyone else?"

Kara had multiple reasons why that was false, but most of them were personal, so she held her tongue. She raised her glasses up and rubbed her eyes.

"You've already decided she's guilty, haven't you?"

"She's a Luthor. The evidence—"

"The evidence is in doubt!" Kara snapped, glaring at him, "She has a lousy relationship with her mother, why would she help her break out of jail? Especially when _she_ was the one who helped put Lillian there? And she's been doing nothing but trying to get out from under the Luthor shadow, why would she do a thing to jeopardize that?"

"Look," James sighed, "This is going out there. The evidence says this is what happened."

"So you're not going to dig? Lena's innocent!"

"And if you can prove that, it'll be tomorrow's headline," Snapper said, "This is today's."

Kara glared at both of them before growling, "I'm going to leave before I say or do something I'll regret."

And she turned on her heel and stormed out of the office. Her anger was like a physical force, and everyone scurried out of the way.

Someone poked their head into Snapper's office, looking completely stunned.

"Okay, what did you say to Sunshine Danvers to turn her into Mount St. Helens? Because _that_ was terrifying!"

"She's just mad," James said weakly.

"No shit, Sherlock! She looked like she was plotting someone's murder!"

 **oOo**

Kara really _, really_ , _**really**_ _,_ _ **REALLY**_ wished she had something or someone to hit.

That was the worst part about all this. That Lena was in trouble, and even with all her power, she couldn't protect her from this.

She spent the rest of the day at the DEO, stewing in her fury, but unable to properly express it. Most everyone gave her a wide berth, not wanting to be the one that made the volcano erupt. Only Alex felt safe enough to remain in Kara's presence for long periods.

"You must care a lot about her if you're this angry," Alex said.

Kara didn't reply, she just growled like a wolf, gnashing her fangs and pacing.

Alex tossed her a blood bag, and Kara drained it inside a minute before going back to her pacing.

That evening, Guardian staggered into the DEO, helped by Winn, claiming that Lena had been broken out by Metallo.

Kara's fear reached higher levels as she watched Alex treat a burn on James' shoulder, sustained from Corben's energy burst, while James and Winn told the tale to her and J'onn.

"Metallo's strong, but something's off," he was saying, "His Kryptonite isn't right, I think it's hurting him."

"How do you figure?" Alex asked.

"Right after he blasted me, he swayed a bit. And he had these green veins coming out of where the heart was."

"Well, you're lucky you didn't take a direct hit."

"Had my shield. I love that shield."

"What were you doing there, anyway?" Kara asked.

James fell silent, but Kara listened in on his heart. It felt nervous…guilty…

"You were going for Lena, weren't you? You were going to try to interrogate her!"

James didn't answer, but his heartbeat did. Kara snarled and started to pace.

"Even if Corben is weakening, he's still a fanatic," she said, "He'd follow Lillian to the gates of Hell, which isn't good for Lena. We have to find her and help her."

"What's it going to take for you to realize that Lena's a criminal?" James all but shouted.

Kara glared at him with glowing red eyes.

"You don't want to go there."

"I'm not scared of you, vampire," James growled back, "She's not the victim. She got the Kryptonite, he broke her out of prison. She—"

"LENA'S NOT A MEMBER OF CADMUS!" Kara roared, the walls of the med bay shaking from the force of her voice.

"And there's the volcano we were all worried about," Winn muttered, "Nice work, Jimmy."

"She stopped the gang with alien weapons! Winn, you helped her do it! She saved Alex's life when Corben tried to kill her! She stopped Medusa from killing all alien life in National City! J'onn, you wouldn't be here if it weren't for her!"

"She also shot Corben, and then her crazy mother turned him into Metallo, which could have been the plan the entire time," James argued.

"Why are you still arguing with her?" Winn hissed, "Do you _want_ her to slug you?"

"Kara, a lot of people don't remember this, but Clark and Lex used to be best friends. For years, in fact. And Clark believed in Lex for the longest time. No matter what people said, no matter what kind of proof he saw with his own eyes. 'No, Jimmy, Lex is my friend, and I believe in him.' But Clark was wrong—"

"Lena isn't Lex."

"They grew up in the same house, Kara. I don't get why you keep defending her-"

"Because she's important to me," Kara snapped, "When I look into her eyes, I can see the hurt her family put her through, and I can see the hope for a better tomorrow. I look at her, and I see someone who wants to do good. I watch her, I listen to her, and I _know_ that she only wants to help."

Kara took a second to breathe.

"And I heard her heartbeat, when she saw the video. She was genuinely surprised to see it. I heard her heart when she said it wasn't her. She wasn't lying. So I believe her."

"And how accurate is this little heartbeat trick of yours?" James asked condescendingly.

Kara ignored him, turning to Winn.

"Winn, look over that video. I'm sure you can find something."

"I did, it's clean."

"Check it again!"

Winn started, throwing his hands up defensively.

"Kara," J'onn said, "Dial it back. Now, I know you don't want to hear this, but the evidence is overwhelming. We might have to start treating Lena as-"

A hand at his shoulder stopped him, and he turned to see that Shanoa had suddenly appeared.

"J'onn, did Martians evolve _any_ survival instincts. _At all_?" she asked flatly, "Kara, get changed and go down to the training room. Wait for me there. We're going to blow off some steam."

Kara nodded and left. Shanoa then rounded on everyone else, eyes narrowed.

"You people. That woman has a talent for finding the best in people, for finding truth in the darkness. Why would you belittle that? Why would you not believe in her? How often has she been wrong, _completely wrong_ , about a person that she has come to know?"

"Very, _very_ rarely," Alex replied, "I should go talk to her…"

"I have this," Shanoa said, holding her hand up, "I think I have an idea of the root of the problem…"

"Is it that the friend she made is guilty of a crime?" James scoffed.

" _I will eat you!"_

James reared back, taken aback by Shanoa's sudden shout, her voice echoed, her eyes aglow, and her fangs ready.

Shanoa spun on her heel and left.

"Seriously, James, did Metallo hit you on the head?" Winn asked, "Why do you keep antagonizing the vampires?"

James didn't answer, she just glared in the direction Shanoa left.

"No concussion symptoms," Alex said, "That's just his own stupidity and pig-headedness."

 **oOo**

The training room was stocked with several concrete blocks for Supergirl to use as punching bags. As Shanoa watched, Kara did a lot more than just punch.

After countless punches, two dozen kicks, one dozen lightning bolts, five fireballs, and a hammer, Shanoa finally spoke up.

"You are very upset about this."

Kara glared at Shanoa.

"I've seen things that would turn you white, Kara. A death glare means nothing to me."

Kara snarled savagely and roundhoused a block, sending it toppling to the floor.

"All the good she's done for the National City. The gang, the Medusa virus, the countless acts of charity, hell, even the business she's brought to the city! And every bit of that is forgotten because of one video without any corroborating evidence! I'm the only one who believes in her! Why am I alone in this after everything?"

"Help me understand your pain," Shanoa said, "Talk to me about Lena. Not what's going on now, but about _Lena_."

Kara took several deep breaths.

"She's…she's amazing. She grew up with a frigid mother and a kind but distant father. No real friends. The brother who was everything to her, she watched turn into a monster, and she couldn't stop it. Her family name is mud. Anyone else, it could be justified for self-destructing.

"But she didn't.

"Lena did her damnedest to stay in the light. She promised to bring some good into the world, and every decision she made since has been toward that.

"But she keeps it in perspective. She's kind to her employees. She personally helps create and test new technologies. She donates to charity and organizes events to help even more charities. She ended up donating the biggest check to that children's hospital fundraiser, even when organizing the event could have been enough."

Kara sat down on one of the blocks, a soft look in her eyes.

"She understands what it's like to feel disappointed in one's family. She's so easy for me to talk to, I feel so at peace when I'm with her, like I have no problems, or if I did they were small. She's so kind, not nearly as cold as some people would tell you. Her smiles are so bright, and I love seeing them, making her smile. Her eyes light up when she laughs, or talks about a new gadget or idea, or when she sees me. She looks at me like I'm important, and not in the same way people look at Supergirl. She thinks Kara Danvers is important, enough so that I can walk into her office any time. She always has a moment for me, too.

"I feel so cold sometimes. The weight of the world, the shadow of the vampire…but Lena? Being with her? She makes me feel warm."

"And you worry for her now?" Shanoa asked.

"Corben is dangerous, and Lillian is a madwoman. I'm _terrified_ for Lena. I want to find her. I want to get her out of danger, and then just spend ten minutes hugging her to make sure she's alive. I want to focus on her heartbeat, hear that she's okay for myself."

"And if you could fight all her enemies, if you could make her happy…"

"I know that she's happy when I'm there. I see the way her eyes light up, the way she relaxes around me. I want to see her like that, and I want to see her succeed. I want people to see her for Lena, not another Luthor. I want her to never have to worry about that shadow again. I want…I want to be there for her…"

"When you met her, did you notice anything…odd? Like you noticed something about her, but you couldn't put her finger on it just then?"

"No…although I did feel weird when I met her again. Got some distracted thoughts, but I was able to focus back."

"This second meeting…after you became a vampire, I imagine?"

"Yes…"

"Last question. Are you aware of her heart?"

Kara tilted her head, confused.

"Aware how?"

"You usually have to listen, don't you? If you want to listen to someone, you have to actively listen. But if you want to listen to Alex, it's far easier, and you find yourself seeking it out sometimes. Is Lena similar in that respect?"

"Yes, actually. I've never had problems listening to her heartbeat. I could pick it up from miles away now. I can't right now, and that scares me, but-"

"But you are always aware of it on some level. When you are with her, you always hear it, even when you're not trying to?"

"Yes," Kara replied, still confused.

Shanoa smiled.

"An emotional connection. A deep desire to protect. A want to see her happy. And a constant awareness of her heartbeat. This was how it was described to me by my husband."

"How what was described?"

"The Tepes bloodline is strong in many ways, but one of the more interesting and esoteric aspects of it is that its members always _KNOW._ It happens when we meet someone that is compatible with us, someone perfect for us beyond description. A soulmate, for lack of a better word. We always _KNOW_ they are who they are when we meet them."

Kara just looked at her, stunned.

"Adrian looked at me, and he _KNEW_. He knew I would be his. But he didn't rush. He was patient, and kind. He helped me fulfill my duty, and showed me things that I had never experienced before. And when I was turned, when I was officially part of the Tepes bloodline, I saw him, and I _KNEW._ I knew I had made the right choice. I knew that he was the one I had been unwittingly searching for, as all sentient creatures do. All of us seek to find the right one, the soulmate. The Tepes bloodline, well, we have the luxury of knowing when we are right.

"Now, when Adrian finished your turning, when he adopted you into his bloodline, he was able to use magic to adjust certain traits of the Tepes bloodline, make sure you got certain abilities. Chief among them was sun resistance, of course. But there was also the mist. There was the gift of sorcery. And there was the _KNOWING_. We said nothing because it was not relevant at the time, and the odds were slim that you would have found them in so short a time. If the first year wound down and you hadn't found him or her yet, we would have informed you, but here we are, me telling you because you found her.

" _Mo mhac léinn_ , the reason you feel so strongly about Lena, are so angry that she is in danger, is because she is now family to you. She is your soulmate, and you want to protect her with all your considerable might."

Kara sat down on the remaining block, stunned.

But deep down, she knew Shanoa was right. She _KNEW._

 **oOo**

If there was one thing Lena knew, it was that she hated her mother.

But beyond that hate, she just felt cold and empty.

She had been effectively kidnapped, her reputation was in shambles, and she was honestly afraid for her life.

But the worst thing was the eyes. She remembered that pair of deep blue eyes, looking at her with worry as she was led away. The memory pained her.

And the architect of that pain was sitting in front of her.

Which brought her back to the hatred thing.

"Oh, stop trying to kill me with your eyes, Lena," Lillian said, "You don't have heat vision."

Lena fought back a growl, then steadied herself as the van they were in hit a bump.

"Shocks on this thing are lousy," Corben grumbled from the driver's seat.

"It's low-key," Lillian replied before turning back to Lena, "You're angry I had Metallo liberate you from that jail."

"Look who's smart," Lena snapped.

"Lena, there's no need to be testy."

"I think there is. You just made me look more guilty when I'm not. In fact, I'm guessing you had something to do with the video as well. Are you trying to make people think I'm as bad as you?"

"Even if people found out the truth about you, no one would change their mind. The public wants to believe the narrative they expect from us. That Luthors are evil."

"I was doing fine. I was trying to make up for the darkness. I was being good. Then you drag me into this madness."

Lillian scoffed.

"You really think that would have worked long term? We don't get second chances. Look what they did to me. Stripped me of my medical license without even a hearing. Or worse, what they did to Lex. He could have fixed this planet for generations-"

"Boo-hoo, poor you. Let me throw my pity at the woman who tried to _murder_ an entire population. And since I know you're going to bring it up, Lex went insane. No one twisted him to do what he did, least of all Superman. Lex made his choices. So did you, for following in his footsteps. I made my choice by turning away, and you just couldn't leave that alone."

Lena took a harsh breath.

"Corben, stop the van. I'm going back."

"To what?" Lillian asked, "You have no life anymore, Lena—"

"Because of you! I finally had some happiness and warmth in my life, and here you are taking it away!"

"Anything I did only hastened the inevitable. The world was bound to turn against you eventually. You don't have anyone on your side. You're guilty, just like me. You're on the run, just like me. But I can help you. Join Cadmus. Together we can do all the great things you ever dreamed of. And with no Luthor men to divide us, I can finally be the mother you always wanted. Because I do love you. Let me prove it to you now."

Lillian gave her a smile, and Lena just sat there before giving a loud and bitter laugh.

"Are you for real? You must be going senile early. I'm only guilty because you made it look like it. I'm only like this because of you. You really think you can win me over by destroying my life and saying it was because you were looking out for me?"

"Lena-"

"Oh no! Your talking time is done. I get to talk now. You want me to join a group of murderers and madmen. You're a terrorist organization, Mother. No matter how much you try to justify it, you're still labeled as enemies of the state, and for good reason! You've experimented on God knows how many aliens, hurt God knows how many people. You were about to unleash a deadly virus on a densely populated city that would have horribly killed a good chunk of it. You're trying to justify the murders Lex committed as well as your own.

"And now this talk of family. Let's say, for the sake of argument, that Lionel did tell you to keep your distance. You could have told him no. You could have seen me for what I was: a little girl who had lost her mother. You could have filled that role from the beginning. Instead, you shunned me, and when you didn't, you used me. I was a little doll you would praise to your socialite friends, but when you had no use for me, I was either shut up in my box or treated horribly. I still remember your harpy tongue, your constant insults and put downs. I was never good enough, and you made sure I knew it. For _years_ , I threw myself at your feet, and it did nothing.

"All I wanted from you was a little love, but you made it very clear that that was never going to happen."

Lillian sighed as if talking to a stubborn child.

"Lena, you can't believe all that. I only ever wanted what was best for you."

That line. She'd heard that line so many times. She used to believe it, but she knew now how hollow and empty it was. So she responded with a line she'd been waiting to use.

" _Gabh Transna Ort Fhéin!_ " she snarled at Lillian.

Lillian tutted.

"Lena, you know I don't understand you when you talk like-"

"Actually, ma'am, I know what she said," Corben spoke up, "I once had a girl who hated it when I cursed, so I learned some choice ones from other languages to hide what I was actually saying. That one's Irish, it roughly means 'go fuck yourself sideways'."

Lillian looked from Corben to Lena, mouth agape.

"Yeah. Seriously, Lena, you kiss your mother with that mouth?" Corben laughed.

"I can count on one hand the number of times we've actually hugged, to hell with kiss. And I'd have fingers left over."

Corben whistled.

"You ladies have one seriously messed up relationship."

"Shut up and drive," Lillian growled.

They spent the rest of the trip in silence, Lillian trying to avoid Lena's gaze and Lena still hoping her _dear mother_ would spontaneously combust.

Finally, Corben gave a chuckle.

"Here we are. Lex Luthor bunker number 42, wherein lie the answers to everything."

"That's not what it's called," Lillian said.

"Douglas Adams is wasted on you Yanks."

"I'd probably find it funny if I weren't so furious right now," Lena interjected.

"Thank you."

Corben drove into the garage and parked, and the three disembarked. Lena looked around and saw a few trucks and several shipping containers, surrounding a large open space.

"So Corben's joke aside, what exactly are we here for?" Lena asked.

"Don't look at me, I'm just the muscle," Corben said.

Lillian strolled over to the nearest wall and opened a locker mounted on wall, extracting a small device.

"And that is?" Lena asked.

"In case of emergency," Lillian replied, putting the device in her pocket, "And as for this place, it's one of Lex's facilities. A giant satellite receiver embedded in the top of this mountain monitors outer space for signs of intelligent life."

"To warn of alien invasion," Corben said.

"Bingo. Because we know more are coming."

"Makes me glad I joined the cause."

"You know most of them are refugees, right?" Lena asked, but was soundly ignored.

"There's enough here to sustain us for a long time if we need it," Lillian said, "But I suspect we won't. Lex didn't only keep rations for times of emergency, you see. He also kept an arsenal. Vaults around the world, loaded with things he'd collected to level the playing field with Superman once and for all. And one of those vaults is right here. All we need is to open it."

Lillian had been walking as she talked, forcing the other two to follow her, but she stopped next to a small metallic square seated on a pole. Lena studied it, quickly recognizing the palm scanner on the metal.

"Biometric lock," Lena said, the pieces starting to come together.

"Scans for Luthor DNA," Lillian said, "Any Luthor can open it, and you, my daughter, are part of that family tree."

"And there it is," Lena said, anger inching into her voice, "You didn't have your green goon liberate me from prison out of love. I'm the only one who can open this vault for you. I'm just a tool to you! I always was."

"Lena, you're family."

"No, I don't think we are."

"We can argue about it all night, but we have a schedule to keep. Henshaw!"

Lena felt a strong grip on her arms, and she was practically carried to the scanner. She tried to struggle, but she knew it was useless. Henshaw was built to tangle in a bigger weight class.

Lena's hand was forced onto the scanner, and it hummed for a moment and beeped an affirmation. As the floor opened up, Lena's heart sank.

Her mother and Corben walked toward the rising vault, and Henshaw released Lena. But Lena could only stand there as instruments of doom appeared before her eyes.

And even now, she couldn't help but think of a pair of blue eyes. She couldn't help but remember kindness and warmth.

She couldn't stop thinking about Kara Danvers.

She had to admit, it started very simply. This pretty blonde thing had come into her office, shadowing a well-known reporter. She saw some potential, and encouraged her to continue. She _might_ have flirted a bit, just to see what she'd do.

She realized it had gone beyond just a pretty face when she was formally introduced to Alex. The train of thought went something like this: ' _Who is this? Please tell me I didn't walk in on a moment between girlfriends. SHIT SHE'S MARRIED! OH, oh, okay, sisters, thank God. Wait, what?_ '

And the more time she spent with Kara Danvers, the more meaningful it became. She stopped seeing a pretty face and started seeing the beautiful soul. It was less about getting on the good side of an up-and-coming reporter and more about her first real friend since she was a child.

She was beautiful and kind and witty and thoughtful, and she was Lena's friend. She was someone who wanted to see Lena happy, just because. They laughed together, raged at old white men together, shared secrets and hopes and dreams. And even when Lena had hit rock bottom after the revelation of her parentage, Kara hadn't cared. All that mattered was that Lena be okay.

There wasn't anyone like Kara. And if Lena had any hope left, it was that she would still have Kara when this was over.

 **oOo**

Kara paced about the mission control, cape whipping about from her speed.

"You know, the backseat driving? Not helping," Winn said from his console, "I swear, Kara, I will tell you if I find anything, but a watched pot never—wait, think I'm simmering."

Kara was at his side in a flash.

"What do we have?"

"Okay, so I hacked into the L-Corp CCTV for a raw sample of the 'Lena with Kryptonite' footage, but it looks like someone hacked it a few days ago, left a little present. Wait…I know this code. I found this in the L-Corp security system during the Medusa thing, when Henshaw went to steal that isotope."

"The security system?"

"Yeah, I plugged in because I was curious why no alarms went off. Remember, Maggie only brought a SWAT team because Alex called her. If you hadn't put the pieces together and gotten there, Henshaw would have gotten a lot farther. And the coding he used to paralyze the security, I'm seeing traces of the same code here."

"So Henshaw messed with the system?"

"Bingo," Winn said, rapidly typing, "Which means, if the video was corrupted by Henshaw, I should be able to use the cyborg signature code to reverse it, decrypt it, and give us the original video file…and…"

With a few final strokes of his keyboard, the video showing Lena glitched, and now it was Hank Henshaw taking Kryptonite from a safe.

"Yahtzee!" Kara shouted, "I told you Lena didn't do it!"

"You were right? You were right! Holy cow!"

"Why so surprised?" Kara asked, "Lena's a good person. Send this info to Maggie, get that arrest warrant revoked."

But truth be told, Kara's nerves were still firing. Lena's name would be cleared with this, but she was still in danger. If Kara didn't find her fast—

The train of thought was interrupted by a blaring from the main screen, a computerized voice saying that a Kryptonite signature had been detected.

Winn rushed over to another console, quickly explaining that J'onn had ordered a scan for Kryptonite's radioactive signature, in the hopes of finding Metallo. Said Martian soon approached, Alex and Shanoa in tow.

"You found it, Agent Schott?" J'onn asked.

"About fifty miles north of Mount Whitney. Wait, that's weird."

"What's weird?" asked Shanoa.

"Either something's wrong with the signal or the source isn't pure."

"The ionizing radiation signature is breaking down," Alex observed, "And at an exponential rate."

"Kryptonite is normally very stable for a radioactive element," J'onn said.

"James said Metallo's Kryptonite seemed off," Kara said.

"Maybe it's synthetic," Alex offered, "It would explain how they got it in the first place."

"Okay, that's bad," Winn suddenly said, "If these numbers are right, it's not just unstable, it's going to blow. Serious nuclear explosion. My guess, whatever tech it's plugged into to power Metallo is probably making it worse, like using bad fuel. Maybe if you removed the Kryptonite, the reaction would slow, but at the rate it's going-"

"Lena," Kara breathed, and then her face hardened and she turned to leave.

"I'll go with you," Shanoa said.

"They're mine," Kara growled, her eyes flickering red.

"Understood, but you need someone watching your back."

Then both Supergirl and Shanoa turned to mist and surged out of the building.

"That is really cool," Winn muttered.

Outside, the two reformed, and Shanoa turned into a bat and clung to Supergirl's back beneath her cape. Her passenger thus secured and protected, Supergirl flew away at high speed, her thought filled with worry for Lena and righteous anger toward Lillian. The beast within growled loudly, eager to punish those that had harmed its pack, and Kara wasn't entirely sure she could fully hold it back, or even if she wanted to.

Lena was in danger. Lena could get hurt. Lena could die. All that mattered now was saving her.

They finally reached the coordinates. Shanoa detached, and Supergirl scanned the area, finding the bunker. Without another word, she came down hard, bursting through the ceiling and hitting the ground hard enough to crack it.

She saw a clear box full of objects. A Black Mercy and a familiar set of power armor let her figure that this was a weapons vault built by Lex Luthor. She saw Lillian, Henshaw, and Metallo going through the objects. She saw Lena off to the side, looking utterly miserable.

At the sound of her entrance, all heads had turned to her.

"Supergirl! I can't believe you're here."

Lena's words were full of relief, and she started to make her way to the heroine, only to be blocked by Henshaw and Corben.

"Kara Danvers believes in you," Supergirl said, her eyes fixed on Lena, "I'm here to take you home."

By this point, Lillian had joined them, walking closer to Supergirl without fear.

"Supergirl, you're just in time," Lillian smirked, "Been wondering if these worked."

She tossed a metal object at Supergirl, who caught it instinctively. It then began emitting a hypersonic screech, sending her to the ground in pain, clutching her ears as they started to bleed.

Up above, next to the hole her fellow vampire had made, Shanoa winced, the sound like daggers in her hypersensitive ears. A feeling not unfamiliar to her, and thankfully one she had a defense for. A word and touch of her hands, and her hearing was magically blocked, but that would not help Supergirl. Thankfully, she knew what would.

A bow materialized in her hand, and she started to line up a shot.

Inside, Supergirl screamed in pain, the noise assaulting her ears. The worst part was she could still hear what was going on around her over the high-pitched torture.

"Well, that was easy. Want to try more of these toys?"

"Think I'll stick with the classic." A ripping sound of a shirt torn open, and the sickening feel of Kryptonite entered her world of pain.

"Don't hurt her!" Lena's heart beat wildly, filled with worry.

"Sorry. She's got to pay for what her cousin did to your brother."

"Lex was insane! He murdered innocent people! You can't keep punishing others for his choices!"

"Mr. Henshaw, I think my daughter needs a time-out. Would you mind escorting her back to the van?"

The sounds of a struggle, the growls of Henshaw, followed by his yell of pain.

"That was my eye, you little-"

Crack! Thump!

"I think you broke her arm, Henshaw. Maybe her skull, too."

"Shut up, Corben."

The growl in her chest reached a fever pitch.

Then there was a whistling sound, and the droning bore of the torturous device stopped.

Lillian was confused. One minute, the device keeping Supergirl incapacitated was working fine. Then, a black arrow sprouted from it, and the device died.

"Oh dear."

And then Supergirl burst in an explosion of smoke, the misty cloud swirling around behind Corben. It partially solidified, and a black lance sprouted from his chest, shattering the Kryptonite and sending the pieces scattering.

The mist further solidified, revealing a Supergirl with brightly glowing red eyes, her hand on the back end of the lance now running Corben through. She let go dismissively, and Corben dropped to the ground bonelessly.

Then she turned her red gaze toward them.

"Henshaw," she hissed, and Lillian thought she saw fangs in the alien's mouth.

And then both Supergirl and Henshaw were halfway across the room, the thunderclap of their colliding bodies ringing through the warehouse.

Supergirl was a blur as she tore into Henshaw. Every punch was like a two-ton sledgehammer, the speed on display like a bullet train. The Cyborg Superman tried to compensate, but Supergirl's speed was beyond anything he had seen her capable of before.

All he could process was the pain and the blur and the glowing red eyes boring into his soul the entire time.

It was like fighting a typhoon and an earthquake rolled into one.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, she stopped in front of him, hands cupped before her.

"FULGUR MAXIMUM!"

And at her call, an entire storm's worth of lightning bolts spewed forth

Henshaw slumped to the ground, smoking. His artificial eye blinked oddly.

And then Supergirl turned to Lillian.

And then Lillian was on the ground, staring straight into a pair of eyes that looked like death itself.

"You have no idea how much I want to do this," Supergirl hissed, her hand grasping the old woman's throat, "You have hurt so many people. People who did nothing to you. You are filled with so much hate that it would be better for the entire planet if you just ceased to exist. I could do it, you know. No jury on Earth would convict me if I snapped your neck right now. Or I could make it look like an accident, and no one would look further. Or you could just disappear. No one would know where you went, no one would ever find your body. It would be so. Rao. Damned. EASY."

She let the threat linger for a moment before speaking again.

"But that's not what I'm here for. I'm here for Lena. I'm here to take her home. So count yourself lucky, Lillian. You get to live another day."

The hand squeezed slightly.

"But just be aware, if you ever come near Lena again, if she gets hurt in any way and I found out you were the cause, if you or your goons so much as _touches_ her, we will revisit this conversation. And it will not end _nearly as well._ "

With a flutter of her cape, Supergirl was gone. Lillian panted heavily, gulping down huge portions of air.

She reached into her pocket for the device she had picked up upon entering the vault, a piece of salvaged alien technology. A short-range teleporter that would bring her to one of her safehouses. Only good for one shot, but it would serve for a quick escape.

She needed to rethink some plans, excise anything related to Lena. She needed to put more study into Supergirl, figure out these new powers, because they for sure weren't Kryptonian abilities, Lex had been thorough in documenting what Supers were capable of. She needed to contact her Cadmus cells, let them know she was back. She needed to know where Corben and Henshaw were going to be taken and figure out how to get them back at a later date.

She needed a new pair of underwear.

 **oOo**

Lena groaned as everything came into focus. She quickly took stock of herself and her surroundings.

Head, pounding. Left arm, in a small cast. Other body parts, intact. Bed, soft, bars on the sides. Small stick near her unbroken hand. Cream colored walls.

Conclusion: hospital.

Her eyes settled on a form in a chair to her right, a coat draped over her to serve as a blanket. She felt warm as she looked at the dozing Kara Danvers.

Deciding to get some answers, she grasped the stick and pressed the button on top. A beeping sound came from it, and in a few minutes, a nurse came in.

"Finally awake, Miss Luthor. We were a bit worried. You slept for a little over a day. Might be the concussion symptoms."

The nurse ran a few simple cognitive tests, and deemed that the concussion was very minor, that informed her that she would be kept overnight for observation. As for her arm, the break was also very minor, and the cast would remain on for a week or so.

Lena then looked over to Kara.

"So how long has she been here?" Lena asked.

"Oh, her? Yeah, she arrived shortly after Supergirl brought you in. She stepped out for a while to take care of some business, but she's been by your side for the past day. You're lucky to have a girl like that in your life."

Lena slowly smiled.

"Yes. Yes I am."

The nurse gently shook Kara awake, then left them to talk.

"I'm glad you're okay," Kara said, relief oozing from her voice as she squeezed Lena's hand.

"I can tell. I hear aside from an errand, you've been by my side the whole time."

"Yeah, I just had to take care of something. In fact, I brought you a souvenir."

She shifted back in her chair, picking up a purse from her side. From it, she extracted a copy of Cat Co Magazine.

"First one off the press, you lucky girl."

There was a picture of her on the cover, and big bold words reading LENA LUTHOR INNOCENT

Lena flipped through the magazine until she found the article. The byline read _Kara Danvers_.

She read through the article with a smile on her face.

"Good article," she said as she put it down, "You flatter me."

"I only wrote the truth. I dug deep and found what needed to be found. Besides, like I was going to throw away everything I knew about you and find you guilty."

"Other people certainly did."

"I'm not other people."

"True. There's only one Kara Danvers. And I am more than happy that she's my friend."

"Oh, go on."

"Kara, I'm serious."

Kara stopped giggling and looked at Lena, who was starting to tear up a little.

"I've…never had anyone in my life like you before. Everyone wanted a piece of me because I was a Luthor, then everyone shunned me for the same reason. It took me ages to realize that my so-called family was even worse. Lionel was good to me, but even he had an agenda. Lillian…well…"

"I can guess. Also, I attended a few days of the trial. She struck me as very cold."

"You have no idea. Even Lex…most of the time, he was so good. But sometimes I felt like he was using me. And then there was the blackmail."

"The what?"

Lena looked uncomfortable for a minute before answering.

"Lex was the only one who knew…knew that I was gay. He claimed that Lillian would be furious if she found out. Technically true, Lillian is a homophobe…"

Kara clenched her fist and inhaled sharply.

"But Lex…he held that fact over me. Brought it up whenever he needed something. Acted like it was some great thing that he was keeping my secret. When we had our falling out in Metropolis, before he really went off the deep end, I finally called his bluff, telling him I wasn't afraid anymore. I guess he had some honor, because I'm still not publicly out. You're the only other person who I've told."

Kara touched her chest lightly.

"Lena, I'm honored. Also, really sad you had to go through with that. Also, I want to punch Lex and Lillian."

Lena smiled a bit before turning somber again.

"But that's my point. Kara, you're the first person to really be my friend. The first person I felt like I could open up to. The first person to stand up for me with no strings attached. Kara Danvers, you are my hero."

Kara only took Lena's hand and smiled.

"I'll always be here for you, Lena."

"I'm glad."

After a little while just enjoying each other's company, Lena told Kara to leave for a bit.

"You've been by my side for hours on end. Go, get some air, grab a bite, freshen up a little. I'm not going anywhere."

Kara looked conflicted for a moment before nodding and getting up.

"I'll be back soon."

But then Kara paused at the door.

"Lena?"

"Yes Kara?"

Kara looked like she wanted to say something, but then shook her head.

"Never mind, it can wait."

Lena watched Kara go, a smile gracing her face. Then she paused, taking a deep breath and trying to calm her heart. The look in Kara's eyes, just so briefly as she looked back…the honest affection, the shine that was all for Lena.

It felt right…and it terrified her.

"I'm in too deep," she whispered.

 **oOo**

Kara had rushed back to her apartment. She gulped down some blood as she entered the bathroom, intent on taking a quick shower, but she stopped and sighed.

" _Kara Zor-El, you are a coward,_ " she moaned in her mother tongue.

She caught her reflection in the bathroom mirror, saw her fangs. She remembered the savagery of her attack on Henshaw. She remembered impaling Corben. She remembered threatening Lillian's life.

She looked away.


	13. Love

_Mxy-who? I don't know who you're talking about._

 _Okay, in all seriousness, welcome to what you've all been waiting for._

 _The ship has come to harbor!_

 _Oh, incidentally, there's a bit here referencing Batman the Animated Series. I ripped some lines from an episode. You'll know when you hit it._

* * *

 **Supergirl: Blood Ties**

Chapter 13

Love

"So, is this the guy the witness described?"

"Bingo, thanks Alex," Maggie said, leaning away from the computer, "What's his story?"

"Dunno, but that Ungaran hasn't made any check-ins, which he needs to make since he's serving an exile here. That was the deal made with his government. I smell a rat."

"E-mail me the details, and I'll put out an APB on him. Just, if you guys find him first, let us know."

"Will do," said Alex, "But before you go, I have something I want us to do."

Alex led a confused Maggie up to one of the conference rooms, where Kara was waiting.

"Don't mind me, Alex just asked me to play mediator in case this gets hairy."

Maggie looked from Kara to Alex.

"Okay, what's this about?"

"So," a nervous Alex began, "You know how his morning I said I wasn't much into Valentine's Day?"

Maggie quickly put two and two together.

"Oh. You are into it. You just got super nervous when I brought up how I hate it."

"Look, I know it's silly," Alex said, sitting down, "But after _so_ _many_ Valentine's Days alone, I was just getting excited about this year, being in a relationship where I would celebrate it with someone I loved, just doing all the cheesy stuff couples celebrate. Is that so wrong?"

Maggie sighed deeply and groaned.

"Great, now I feel like the jerk."

"Maggie, why don't you sit down. Tell us how you really feel," Kara said.

Maggie did so and gave another sigh.

"I…honestly don't want to talk about it."

"Come on, you can't really hate Valentine's Day," Kara said lightly.

"She called it a manufactured holiday for patsies," Alex deadpanned.

"I did," Maggie deadpanned.

"Oh, this is going to go well," Kara deadpanned, "Maggie, I know this is hard, but you have to open up. I'm your friend, and Alex is crazy about you."

"She's right. Maggie, this is a relationship," Alex said, "You're the one who's always telling me not to push my feelings down. I never got to do these things for someone else, and I want to do them with you. It's your turn to share. If it's hard, it doesn't have to be. We're here for you, _I'm_ here for you."

Maggie spent a minute just drumming her fingers on the table before finally breaking under Alex's gaze.

"When I told you my parents were supportive of my coming out, I lied."

Alex started.

"What?"

"I had this friend when I was fourteen, Eliza Wilkey. We'd hang out in her parents' basement, watching horror flicks, smoking cigarettes, I…I…"

"She was your first crush," Kara offered softly.

"The first girl that I knew that I liked in a way that was different," Maggie nodded, "And I thought that she liked me too, so on Valentine's Day, I put a card in her locker declaring my feelings and asking her to the dance."

"And I suddenly know where this is going."

Maggie ignored Kara, her eyes locked on Alex.

"She gave that card to her parents. And then they called my parents. And that's how I was outed."

Maggie quivered a bit, and seemed to not notice that Alex had gotten up from the table.

"And then my dad kicked me out, and I had to live with my aunt for three years. And that's why I hate Valentine's-"

Maggie was cut off by Alex's hug.

"Why didn't you say anything? Why didn't you tell me about this?"

"I hate remembering that day. And I didn't want to scare you. I wanted it to be better for you."

"I deserved to know that something was hurting you. Maggie, you shouldn't have to lie to me. We promised each other honesty, remember? You keep telling me not to put up walls, but that goes both ways. Whatever's going on, you can tell me, so I can help you, the same why you help me with my issues. I'm not mad you lied, I just want to help you."

Maggie slowly returned the hug, trying not to cry.

"Ah, Danvers, you're making me misty."

"Good, that means my hug is working."

They stayed like that for a few minutes before Kara awkwardly cleared her throat. Both women jumped.

"Shit, forgot she was still here," Maggie muttered.

"So I have an idea," Kara said, "You don't have to go out and do something, you can just stay in. You can watch a cheesy movie and feed each other champagne and chocolate, and make better memories of the day. Maybe next year, you can do dancing or something, but for now, just do some small cheese."

"Is that agreeable?" Alex asked Maggie.

"I guess…"

"I'll win you over yet. Thanks Kara."

"No problem. I'll leave you two to talk."

Kara slipped out of the room. Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs, she ran into Shanoa.

"Couldn't help but overhear," the elder vampire said, "Nice work, Miss Love Guru."

"Alex just wanted me there to defuse any shouting. The stay-in date is something that just came to me."

"Seems to have worked. Speaking of worked, it's been a week or so since our conversation about Lena. What's the progress on that?"

Kara's face fell.

"I…actually haven't done anything."

"Why not?"

Kara started to stutter and deflect, but Shanoa wasn't having any of it.

"Answer, please," she said in a tone that brooked no argument.

Kara took a deep breath.

"It's…actually my diet. I don't want my being a vampire…Lena's good. I can't expose her to that kind of darkness."

"I think after seeing her brother go insane, she's seen plenty of that."

"Lena's too good, maybe too good for me. Maybe if I wasn't a vampire, if it never happened, I would have taken a chance, but…I was seconds away from killing Lillian. I can try to rationalize it all day, but it still happened. I can't give myself to Lena knowing I carry that deep inside."

Kara looked away, staring at some passing clouds out the window.

"Lena is the one for me," Kara said, "I'm just not sure if I'm the one for Lena."

She felt a sudden impact at the back of her head, and she whipped her gaze back to the unamused Shanoa.

"Did you just dope-slap me?"

"You're being ridiculous."

Shanoa then walked away muttering "What is this romantic comedy gobshite?"

 **oOo**

"I want to thank you again, Kara. Maggie and I had a nice time last night. We mostly riffed on the movie, but it was nice."

"And that can be your Valentine's tradition," Kara said, pouring them both a glass of wine, "To romance and it going well."

"I'll drink to that."

The sisters clinked their glasses and each took a sip before Alex spoke again.

"So what did you want to talk about? And does it have anything to do with that oddly specific toast?"

Kara shifted in her seat a bit before answering.

"Well, since I gave you some advice in the area, I was hoping you'd return the favor. It's about Lena."

Alex nearly dropped her glass.

"Lena? Lena Luthor? Lena, your friend? The one you nearly tore Henshaw's head off over about a week ago? That Lena?"

Kara shifted her gaze, her face reddening. And all the pieces fell into place.

"Oh my God. My baby sister's got a crush."

"It's not a crush…I can't stop thinking about her. I was scared out of my mind when she disappeared."

"And?"

"And her eyes sparkle when she laughs, and I feel my heart beat faster whenever she smiles at me, and she's just so good even though with her life, no one would have blamed her for being bad, and-"

"And you were ready to risk Kryptonite exposure to save her, and you believed in her when everyone else was willing to lock her up and throw away the key, and you've probably lost count of how much time you two have spent on lunch dates. Emphasis on the date."

Kara looked at Alex, who was now grinning like a maniac. Alex would be the first to admit she was slow on the uptake when it came to romantic stuff, but she knew her sister, sometimes better than Kara knew herself.

"You've already started playing with married names in your mind, haven't you?" Alex asked, "I've been listening to you when you talk about her, I just didn't make the connection until now. You are _thirsty_ for that. Can't really blame you. She's certainly attractive. Her whole aesthetic really: the silk blouses, the tailored skirts, the killer heels, the ivory skin, those lips that just grab you by the throat and-"

"Rao, Alex! You have your own girlfriend, stop leering at mi-"

Kara cut herself off, realizing what she was saying. Alex kept right on grinning.

"Gotcha."

"Shut up."

Alex threw her head back and laughed.

"I hate you," Kara grumbled, her eyes flickering red the tiniest bit.

"Seriously though, why are you talking with me about this instead of going over to her place and kissing her senseless? You clearly feel strongly for this woman, why aren't you doing anything about it?"

Kara just popped her fangs. Alex blinked.

"Really? That's why?"

"I can't do this to her, with what I am."

"What you are is a hero, Kara."

"I'm also a vampire. I'm dangerous. No matter what we do, I still get the cravings, the hunger for blood. I still carry this darkness inside me. I can't give myself to Lena without exposing her to that. It's better we just remain friends, and I keep her away from all that."

Alex blew a raspberry.

"Bullshit! You wanted to keep all of us away from it. You couldn't. Kara, look. All the important people in your life know, and we all accepted you. _Because you're you!_ Clark and I hugged you when you broke down after your first feeding. Winn helped you come up with some new recipes, help yourself feel normal. J'onn gets you donated blood. Maggie didn't give it a second look. Barry protected you when some of those other heroes from his Earth started wigging. Jeremiah barely batted an eye. When we finally tell our mom, she'll be okay with it too."

"What about James?"

"He's the exception that proves the rule. Kara, you can't keep being afraid of another reaction like that. Would the ordinary person on the street freak out like he did? That's a toss-up. Would someone who knows you? That's doubtful. And Lena isn't James."

Kara took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"No. No she isn't."

"Vampire or not, you're still Kara Danvers, a woman filled with so much warmth and compassion. That's the part that's important, and that's the part Lena is going to fall in love with. Now go get the girl. I'll be right here cheering you on."

 **oOo**

Meanwhile, across town, Lena flexed her freed wrist as she poured her own glass of wine. And as she'd been doing for some time now, she thought about Kara.

"I can't fool myself anymore…I'm falling in love with my best friend. How cliché is that?"

And yet, it felt so true. For pity's sake, Kara's mere smile made her heart sing. She had it _so bad._

She's nursed some crushes before, but what she felt for Kara seemed so much deeper, burned so much brighter.

She wanted to wrap Kara in her arms and never let her go. She wanted to wake up knowing that she was near, that someone cared for her deeply. She wanted to know what it would be like to kiss her, and have the ability to do it whenever she wanted.

Lena had spent her life in varying degrees of darkness. But Kara was the sun.

And Lena knew that the only thing holding her back was herself. She knew Kara, knew that the other woman would never completely reject her if she came forward with this.

But what did Lena honestly know about love? Luthors didn't love, not really. Her adopted parents had clearly not had the happiest of marriages. Her mother's love for her son was twisted, rendering her unable to see how far he'd fallen. Said son had a string of failed relationships a mile long. He'd even been married twice, both failures.

With that kind of family history, what if she was mistaken? What if this wasn't what Lena thought it was?

Her heart said it was, her head said she needed to know more, and her stomach just did backflips whenever Kara was around.

Lena slugged back some of her wine.

"I'm a hot mess."

Her phone rang suddenly, startling her from her thoughts. She checked the caller ID, and speak of the devil…

"Oh damn."

She wondered if she should just ignore it, but her hand was already reaching for the phone.

Screw it.

"Kara, hi!"

" _Lena, I wanted to give you a ring and see how you were doing."_

Lena smiled, the sound of Kara's voice buoying her spirits.

"Wrist is a little stiff, but I'm just glad the break healed faster than expected. Must be my calcium intake."

" _Good, that's good…listen, do you want to meet for lunch tomorrow? I want to talk to you about something."_

"Kara, you sound nervous."

" _Just…it's kind of a thing, but it's not something I can do over the phone. So, noon tomorrow?"_

"I'll see you then."

 **oOo**

Lena didn't see Kara then.

Or at the raincheck date. Or the one after that. Or the one after that.

It wasn't entirely Lena's fault. It wasn't entirely Kara's either.

First it was a surprise reschedule of an important meeting. Then it was a rushed deadline from Snapper. Then it was a poisoned Branx downtown messing things up. Then it was just Lena chickening out. Then it was Kara's turn to chicken out.

The next few lunch dates did get attended. But they felt stiff and nervous. And then they had to be cut short for one reason or another, often with excuses that sounded lame in hindsight.

"I just remembered a deadline."

"I forgot about some important paperwork back in my office."

"Sudden emergency with Alex, sorry."

"Jess just texted, trouble in the lab, sorry.

To make matters worse, both parties were too nervous to leave on their now customary hug.

It went on like this for a while. Kara would start with something, then shy away and change the subject. Lena wasn't much better.

Both parties felt butterflies, felt warm feelings in their hearts just from being around each other, but their nerves were shot, leaving them stuttering and incapable of hitting the source of the nervousness.

And each time, both parties would read themselves the riot act for their cowardice.

"Useless lesbian," Lena would say, often in Irish.

"Stupid alien," Kara would say, often in Kryptonian.

Finally, one day, Lena could take it no more.

"I think there's something getting between us, and I don't like it."

Kara started to talk, but Lena cut her off.

"No, not now. It's clear we're both too nervous for this, but I'm tired of it. Let's try something else."

"Like what?"

"New setting. You free Saturday night?"

"I can clear my schedule."

"Good, I'll text you my address. I'll make pizza, and we can watch a movie."

"Oh, that sounds cozy," Kara said, "I was honestly wondering when we'd have a movie night. Okay. Maybe after gorging on pizza and laughing at an old movie, we'll be less nervous."

"That's the idea. See you then?"

"Wouldn't miss it."

 **oOo**

Kara almost missed it. But she didn't.

She felt nervous as heck as she rode the elevator up, but she was here, and she wasn't turning back now.

The elevator opened to a small foyer, the only door being to the penthouse apartment. Kara knocked on the door and heard a voice call out that it was open.

So she hesitantly walked in, taking in the posh apartment.

There was a large open area taking up most of her sight, with a nice home theater system, a leather couch and chairs, a set of glass doors leading to a balcony, and several bookshelves. Next to a hallway no doubt leading toward bedrooms, there was a bar top, and across it, the kitchen. Lena was busy in it, fiddling with the oven.

Kara took a moment to listen to Lena's heartbeat, just to try and calm herself. It felt nervous, and it somehow gave her relief to know that Lena was as nervous about tonight as she was.

"Just putting the pizza in the oven?" Kara asked.

"I made two, because paranoia," Lena said, standing and turning toward her, "And yes, they'll be a bit. We can start the movie in the meantime."

Kara tried not to let her shock show. Lena was dressed very casually. Loose pants, socks instead of hose, no makeup, hair hanging free.

"I didn't even know you owned a sweatshirt," Kara said, gesturing to the MIT sweatshirt Lena had on.

"I dress to impress, but I like more comfortable clothes in the privacy of my own home."

"Ditto," Kara nodded, making her way over and depositing her purse on the counter.

She then noticed a painting on the wall next to the kitchen entrance, on the other side of the bar top from the hallway.

"So that's what you did with it."

It was a landscape painting of a mountain skyline, but Kara mostly recognized it because it was one of her works, having given it to Lena for Christmas.

"It's a very nice painting, and it came from you," Lena replied, trying to play it off casually, "Took a bit to find a good frame for it."

"Wait was probably worth it. It looks nice there."

Now that Kara thought about it, aside from the shelves of books, Lena's apartment held little in the way of personal items or decoration. It was a stark contrast to the lived-in look of her own apartment, and Kara said as much.

Lena shrugged.

"I've never been much for collecting stuff, or having a lot of decorations. I spend a lot of time at the office too, so…I have personal touches here and there."

Lena pointed to the relatively empty space next to the painting, where the kitchen entrance stood perpendicular to the entryway and made a little nook.

"There was a small piano there, but it's being repaired."

"You play? You didn't mention."

"Not often. I prefer to dance, but sometimes I'll find myself sitting down for a few beats."

"Yeah, same with me and my painting, honestly. I haven't done a lot lately. No muse, I guess."

Lena hummed and made her way over to Kara, touching her arm lightly.

"It's nice to see you."

Kara wrapped her in a hug out of instinct, and Lena melted into it. They enjoyed each other's warmth before Lena broke it.

"So, it's not exactly a movie. It's actually an old TV show."

"Really?" Kara asked, following Lena to the couch, "What show?"

"It's called _The Gray Ghost_. Lionel was a huge fan when he was younger. Funny story, for the longest time, the old reels for the show were thought lost. But it turned out the main actor, Simon Trent, had copies of almost every episode. He'd been trying to distance himself from the show before, that's why he kept quiet. When he revealed his little treasure, Lionel helped launch a campaign to get it a home video release, which he later showed to his children."

"That's pretty cool. Whole new generation of fans, I take it?"

"Yeah, and it's a good show, too. Watching this is one of my fondest memories. All of us together, like a real family. Even Lillian seemed happy."

Lena poked through the shelves next to the TV and extracted a box set.

"This is a new release, incidentally. I went on to help fund the blu-ray release, just like Lionel had way back when. I think it would have made him happy, knowing that this show will continue to last."

"Lena, that's amazing. And I'd love to share this with you."

Lena put the first disc in, and the two settled in.

 **oOo**

" _The city is rocked again by the mysterious bomber. Our only hope: THE GRAY GHOST!"_

"Accompanied by the cheesiest narrator ever!"

"Kara, stop it!" Lena laughed.

"Oh, like you aren't doing it. Who was making the joke about jumping off the building without any sort of safety equipment?"

" _Pay up or pay the consequences. One million in cash, or the Piedmont Bank is next. Signed the Mad Bomber."_

"Why is it always a million dollars?" Kara asked.

"The same reason I find the Ghost's voice sexy even though I'm gay: REASONS!"

Kara burst out laughing.

"Was there ever any riffing like this when you were a kid?"

"Not the first couple times, but eventually, Lex and Lionel would have a snark fest when the occasion demanded it. Lillian got in a few jokes too, from what I remember, but was mostly content to let them have their fun."

"What about you?"

"Well, I do remember this one time. It was an interesting scene with a femme fatale character, and I called the show out for what _had_ to be an innuendo. Lionel just looked at me like I'd grown a second head, then started laughing because he'd never noticed that. We actually had to stop the video, he was laughing so hard."

"What was the bit?"

"Later episode."

The oven timer buzzed, and they paused the episode for some dinner.

"You'll be happy to know that I made the sauce myself. I remembered you were allergic to garlic, and I didn't want to give you a reaction from a store-bought jar."

"I only mentioned that once! You remembered?"

"Of course I did."

Kara looked at Lena, amazed and touched.

After eating their fill, they went back to the noir-and-cheese-soaked adventures of the Gray Ghost. They lay on the couch, feeling warm in each other's presence. At some point, Kara draped a large blanket over them, and Lena made no move to stop her.

It occurred to them that they were sitting far too closely to be platonic, but neither could bring herself to care.

The last episode on the disc ended, and they laughed at the Ghost's ending one-liner. Soon, the laughter petered out, and they were just looking at each other.

Blue eyes met green eyes. Breathing grew quieter, as if aware of what was happening.

Lips met, and both were gone in a haze of warmth and joy and love.

The two of them never did figure out who initiated the kiss.

When the kiss finally broke, the two lurched away from each other, the air heavy with nervous possibility. A line had been crossed, and they knew it.

Whatever happened next, nothing would be the same.

"I'm sorry-"

"No, I'm sorry-"

"You're the most beautiful-"

"You're just so gorgeous-"

"You're so kind-"

"You care so much-"

"Smart-"

"Witty-"

"So amazing how you-"

"It's incredible when you-"

"Never felt this way-"

"-about anyone else-"

"And I think I might-"

"And I'm pretty sure that I-"

" _Love you,_ " they finished simultaneously.

And then they just stared at each other for a while.

"We're both gay idiots who can't see what's right in front of them, aren't we?" Lena asked.

"I'm actually bi. And it looks like, yes," Kara replied.

And they stared at each other for a little longer.

And then they burst out laughing. And then they started making out.

They whispered sweet nothings between kisses. They gave compliments and explanations of why they were falling in love with the other, pouring out their feelings like water from a glass. They comforted each other, easing the nerves from confessing.

The nervous energy that had plagued them since Lena's kidnapping was gone, replaced with a soft warmth and assurances of one being there for the other.

It would be Lena who got the last word, however.

"There is one other thing, Kara. Something I feel you should know about."

"What?"

Lena cupped her hand around Kara's face, forcing their eyes to lock.

"I really love these eyes. They're so warm, so beautiful. Oh, I've had dreams about these eyes."

She reached up and slowly removed Kara's glasses.

"It took me a while, I'll give you that. But I'd still recognize these eyes anywhere."

Kara froze up.

"I'm sure you probably meant to tell me, but I imagine you've kept your secret for so long, it's become instinct. That hypothetical you gave during that interview about the alien detection technology seemed pretty deep, I can only assume it was experience talking."

"Yes," the blonde squeaked.

"Let me let you in on a secret of my own. Most people claim Supergirl as their hero for a number of reasons. Her goodness, her unwavering sense of right, her strength, her beauty, what she represents, all sorts of things. I have many of those reasons too, but I have another reason that no one else has."

Lena leaned in and whispered delicately into Kara's ear.

" _Supergirl is my hero because she's Kara Danvers._ "

Kara sharply inhaled, and Lena leaned back and smiled brightly at her.

"What do you think?"

"That's an…interesting reason."

"It's also my favorite."

"Zor-El."

"Pardon?"

"My name, as it was on Krypton, was…is…Kara Zor-El."

Lena just smiled softly.

"Hello, Kara Zor-El. I'm Lena. I think I'm falling for you."

"Likewise," Kara replied, closing the distance between their lips.

It felt so warm, _so right_.

 **oOo**

The next morning, Kara woke up staring at a white wall. She was confused for a moment, because her bedroom wall wasn't white. And these didn't feel like her sheets. And what was that pressure on her side?

She looked over and saw Lena, fast asleep. She was huddled close, her arm was clutching Kara's like a teddy bear, and she was smiling softly in her sleep. The way their bodies fit together, it felt so perfect, like Lena was always meant to go there. Kara could have slapped herself for ever thinking that this wasn't right.

She looked so peaceful. Kara had the sudden urge to reach over and lightly stroke her cheek.

Then something else occurred to her. Panicking slightly, she lifted up the covers.

"Phew. Not naked. Borrowed pajamas, looks like. At least no one can accuse us of going too fast."

Kara thought about extricating herself, but when she pulled on her trapped arm, Lean clutched tighter and murmured incoherently.

Stuck, Kara contented herself with watching the sunlight dance across Lena's hair and listening to her steady heartbeat.

Kara considered herself a romantic. She loved the idea of love in all its forms. Upon the full realization that human culture gave her the freedom to choose for herself who she wanted, Kara embraced the fact. She saw the movies and heard the stories of love and its power. It was ironic, then, that Kara had never really connected with others on the deep level she sought. She had had relationships before, but they never progressed beyond a certain point, and the blame could mostly be laid at her feet. As much as she loved the idea of romance, she was always unable to fully open herself to a partner, the secret of her alien nature always hanging overhead like the Sword of Damocles.

With Lena, that wasn't standing between them, and Kara felt so much freer for that. Granted, there was another secret, but that was different. Her alien nature had been disguised since she was a teenager, and almost every move in her life was to better hide that fact. With Lena, she didn't have to hide that, and it felt amazing to know that. The burden she had carried for so long felt so much lighter now.

Lena woke up eventually, and after a slight panic, remembered the events of the night before. She then relaxed. Kara felt so warm, and the way the sun glinted on her hair and face was beautiful. And the way she looked at her, like there was nothing else in the world…

In that moment, Lena felt more at peace then she ever had.

"What time is it?" she asked.

"About seven," Kara answered, fondness laced in her voice.

"How long have you been up?"

"A while. I was just watching you, you looked so peaceful. And you kind of trapped my arm."

Lena reluctantly let go.

"I'm a little surprised. I'm usually an early riser," Lena said, "How are you up before me?"

"My sleep patterns, among other things, have been pretty odd lately. Sometimes, I just feel…off."

"Does the oddness have anything to do with why you don't use your heat vision anymore? I've noticed."

"It…yeah, it's connected to that."

There was something in Kara's voice that caught Lena's attention. She rose up a little to better look at Kara.

"Kara, is there anything I can help with?"

Kara's face fell, and her eyes dimmed a little.

"No, there's nothing you can do to help. There's nothing _anyone_ can do to help."

Lena regarded her before a thought occurred to her, and she gasped.

"Oh my God, are you dying?"

Kara looked at her like she'd grown a second head.

"What? NO!"

Lena let out an explosive breath of relief.

" _Go raibh míle maith an Tiarna_ ," she said, patting her chest to steady a worried heart.

"Seriously, that was your first thought?"

"Well, what is it then?"

Kara averted her gaze.

"I…I'm not ready to talk about it."

Lena put her hand over Kara's.

"Fair enough. When you're ready. I can be patient."

And she really could. Kara had already given her so much. Her time, her smile, her belief, her heart. Lena knew she would do anything to be worthy of the hope Kara had given her.

Kara took in the look of kindness and love being directed at her. A part of her wondered if that look would remain if Lena knew she was a vampire.

The rest of her brain beat that thought to a pulp, then took it out back to have it shot. This was a nice morning with the person she loved after confessing her feelings. Depression had no place here.

That secret would be revealed in time, but for now, Kara just wanted to bask in the warmth of love.

The two got up and made breakfast. Kara whipped up some omelets while Lena fried some bacon, the two moving around each other in the kitchen like they'd been doing it forever. They talked and laughed over breakfast, much like they had done so many times before, but there was a new undercurrent to it.

"Lena, be honest with me. What are we now?"

"I would have thought that was obvious," Lena replied, leaning over to peck Kara on the cheek.

Kara grabbed Lena's shoulder before she could slip away.

"I want to hear you say it."

Lena smiled softly.

"Girlfriend."

"Say it again."

"Girlfriend," Lena repeated, kissing her on the cheek again.

"Again," Kara said, kissing the corner of Lena's mouth.

"Girlfriend." Another kiss, closer to the mouth.

"Again."

"Girl-mm!"

Kara kissed her soundly.

"Girlfriend," Kara said.

"You're good at that."

"Honestly, I'm just glad I didn't break your nose like the first boy I kissed."

"And how often has that happened?" Lena asked, a teasing look on her face.

"Once…twice…four times…stop laughing!"

"Accidents happen I suppose. I once broke my boarding school roommate's arm."

"How did that happen?"

"Well, it was like this…"

Kara and Lena would spend the rest of the morning together, giddy in each other's presence.

It would only be later that Kara realized that the hunger for blood didn't rise to her notice, even though it should have.

All the turmoil of her life, losing her world, the hate and fear directed at her from aliens and Cadmus, the shadow of the vampire…none of it mattered. Not when she was with Lena.

When Lena smiled at her, she felt free.

* * *

 _You may now HNNG! and clutch your chests_


	14. Homecoming

_LOOK OUT! FLUFF THAT BLEEDS INTO ANGST INCOMING!_

* * *

 **Supergirl: Blood Ties**

Chapter 14

Homecoming

"So what you're saying is, I'm technically dating an older woman."

"Oh stop!"

Kara and Lena had met at Lena's apartment for breakfast. It had been two weeks since they had become a couple, and the two were almost inseparable.

The only hiccup had been when Kara had told Celeste and Snapper about how she couldn't report on Lena and L-Corp anymore, citing a new conflict of interest. Celeste was happy for her. Snapper had ranted about it until the two women had given him death glares. After that, he tried to weasel an exclusive about the new development in the life of one of National City's most powerful women.

Kara had coldly informed him that they would rather keep it quiet for now, and threatened to poison one of his beloved Danishes if he said anything. He believed her.

The only other people who knew were Alex, who hugged the stuffing out of her sister upon hearing of it, and Jess, who offered to cover them if they wanted to sneak out for a date.

"Or if there's something else," she had added with a grin that made Kara blush like a tomato.

The two had regular meal dates, usually at one of their apartments. Conversation was light but loving, and each had slowly teased the stories of old scars out of each other, letting their partner see them and comfort the old wounds. Kara felt like the longer she spent around Lena, the lighter and more peaceful everything seemed, and it warmed her heart to know that Lena felt the same way.

"I'm only kidding, _mo chroí_ ," Lena said, "Truth be told, I'm more angry about your cousin just leaving you like that than anything else."

"Honestly, I did use to hate him for it. But Kal was young, fresh out of college and getting his life together. He couldn't have raised a young girl with PTSD on his own. Giving me to the Danvers was the right choice. I've made my peace with what he did, and I wouldn't trade my family for the world."

"The way you gush about Alex, I can tell. Speaking of, what are the chances she'll let me see that alien gun of hers so I can find out what makes it tick?"

"About as likely as an earthquake hitting National City so hard it rips us from the mainland," Kara deadpanned, "She loves that gun. You know, I'm really glad I can talk about this with you. Lying to you about Supergirl and alien stuff was the worst. Objectively _the worst_."

"You've mentioned. I'm actually glad I don't have to dance around the topic either. It was starting to get hard not letting on that I knew."

"Why _didn't_ you say anything before?"

"I wanted you to tell me. But then we were spilling our guts to each other and I went 'screw it, I want to see her surprised'."

"It was certainly surprising. Speaking of surprises, I found out that the boardwalk is doing a special event soon for St. Patrick's Day. You want to go with me?"

"I worry about the paparazzi," Lena said with a grimace.

"We could go in disguise. It'll be fun!"

Lena dithered a bit before nodding.

"But if any shutterbug gets too aggressive, you have my permission to throw him into the water."

"Deal."

Any further conversation was interrupted by Kara's phone ringing.

"Winn, what's up?"

" _Holy Cadmus crème egg, Supergirl! We got a hot one!"_

"Say that again, and without the weird euphemisms. Cadmus?"

" _Big time. We've got a convoy coming out of one of their suspected weapon storage facilities."_

"Feed me their location and have J'onn rendezvous. Tell Alex to set up a back-up team. I'm on the way."

Kara hung up and looked at Lena apologetically.

"Rain check on the rest of breakfast?"

"Do me a favor?"

"Anything."

Lena's smile became feral.

"Put the screws to mother dearest."

"Will do."

Kara speedily changed and ducked out via Lena's balcony. As she heard her girlfriend give her good luck, Kara realized that while she had done the conflict of interest thing at CatCo, she hadn't told J'onn about the recent development. At the very least, Lena would have to sign some NDAs concerning Supergirl/DEO activities.

"On the list for later," she muttered.

She met J'onn just outside the city, and the two followed Winn's instructions to an old Lord Technologies test site. Supergirl recalled how the site had been bought by L-Corp recently, but that the key exchange was still in progress. Since no one would be there, Cadmus must have figured they could cut through easily.

Less easily once lightning came down and forced the vans escorting the truck to veer off.

While the Martian Manhunter came down hard in front of the vans, the shockwave causing them to spin out of control, Supergirl slipped between the cab and trailer of the truck, disconnecting everything and pushing the trailer away. She brought the trailer to a halt and took a second to breathe.

"Momentum," she muttered, "Nearly forgot the momentum."

She heard the cock of a gun behind her, then the sound of a punch being landed. Figuring that it was J'onn taking care of the driver, Supergirl darted around to the back of the trailer and opened it up.

She nearly had a heart attack then and there. As it stood, she was certain she stopped breathing for a few seconds.

" _Jeremiah?"_

 **oOo**

Alex rushed across the room to where Kara was supporting a weak and bloody Jeremiah.

"They told me, but I didn't believe it," she gasped, giving her long-lost father a hug.

"I know!" Kara all but squealed, "But it's real, it's _so real_."

"Alex, ow, easy," he winced, "Oh, who am I kidding, both of you get in here. Gently."

Kara joined in, sighing contentedly.

"I missed your hug," she whispered.

Alex could only whimper for her father, tears starting to run down her face.

Only the applause of other agents in the main room broke them out of the haze of relief and love.

J'onn, Alex, and Kara took Jeremiah to the infirmary, where they worked to patch him up as best they could. While they did, Jeremiah explained that, after the altercation in the Amazon that led to the near-deaths of him and Hank Henshaw, Cadmus had recovered them. Jeremiah had been saved, but Henshaw had almost been too far gone. So they forced Jeremiah to help them create the Cyborg Superman, then kept him around for his expertise.

There was a slightly awkward moment wherein he admitted it was odd to see J'onn walking around in Henshaw's skin, but he admitted that the Martian had put it to better use than the original had.

"Well, thank Rao you're okay now," Kara said, "I was worried, after you helped me escape that…well-"

"That Cadmus would imprison and torture me for betraying them?" Jeremiah said, "Well, you're not wrong. But they did try to keep to lighter methods, because they didn't want to lose my skills as an asset."

"Not light enough," Alex said, "It looks like the damage to your right hand is pretty extensive. I'd like to run some more tests to be sure, but it's looking really bad."

"Part of the punishment for helping Kara escape," Jeremiah said, holding the hand stiffly, "But I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I'm lucky you found me, though."

"Extremely," came Shanoa's voice, "And in my experience, that kind of luck doesn't come up often."

She glided into the room, looking at Jeremiah oddly.

"We got an alert that Cadmus was moving a weapon. We don't hear from them unless they release a video or we catch them red-handed."

"We did catch them red-handed," Kara said.

"No, we caught them waving those red hands in the air like they were at a rock concert."

"Oh, come on-"

"She's not wrong," Jeremiah said, "Cadmus is making a weapon."

"What are we dealing with?" J'onn asked.

"A nuclear fusion bomb. They got it by using the energy harvested from Kara's solar flare. Making her do that was a two-fold idea. Get her blood to access the Fortress of Solitude, get energy to build a city-destroying bomb they can set off and blame on hostile alien forces."

Kara felt sick.

"Kara, may I speak with you privately?" Shanoa asked.

She followed the elder vampire out of the room.

"What's up?"

"As seriously as we should take this bomb threat, I don't think it's the full story," Shanoa said.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, it's still suspicious that you got Jeremiah back so easily…unless Cadmus wanted you to."

Kara's jaw dropped.

"I hate to say it, because getting your father back is undoubtedly a good thing, but something about this whole affair is triggering my instincts in a bad way."

"You're wrong," Kara said.

"You better hope I am, or this could get ugly. All I'm saying is that, while he may be the man who protected you as a child, he's also the man who's lived with your enemy for years. You have no idea what he's been through or what's been done to him."

Shanoa sighed.

"Look, I need to attend to something else, but for you and your sister's sake, keep your eyes open."

Shanoa walked away, leaving Kara stunned.

"No, no, she's just being paranoid," Kara whispered, "I have him back, Alex has him back. He's back."

Deep inside, the scared little girl who had lost everything was crying in joy that a lost one came back.

But now that the thought was in the open, it wouldn't leave. Was this too easy?

 **oOo**

An hour later, Jeremiah felt well enough to attend an informal meeting between J'onn, Kara, Alex, and Winn concerning the bomb.

Jeremiah offered to help Winn calibrate the DEO sensors to search for the radiation signature from Kara's heat vision, but the search was still going to take time, even with how little she'd been using it lately.

"And that's still only if the bomb is armed, and anything they can do to shield it is going to throw off the search," Winn said.

"It's still something," J'onn said, "Keep at it."

"Jeremiah," came a stunned voice, and everyone turned to see Eliza Danvers standing next to a smug Shanoa.

Eliza was shocked beyond belief. Her purse dropped from limp fingers as she closed the distance between them and hugged him like she was afraid he'd disappear.

"My God, did I miss you," Jeremiah said.

Eliza could only sob.

Kara looked over a Shanoa, a questioning look on her face.

"What? Just because I'm suspicious doesn't mean I'm going to be a jerk about it. So, I happened to know a spell that could give me a personized slipstream for fast flight, and a quick ritual that allows me to teleport back to a previously set destination."

"So Faore's Wind?" Winn asked.

"I have no idea what that is."

"You've never played Legend of Zelda, have you?"

"Legend of what?"

Winn faked a heart attack.

"Oh stop," Kara said, "This is a gift. In fact…family dinner at my place tonight!"

"That sounds like a great idea," Jeremiah called out.

Eliza nodded against her husband's shoulder, still too overcome with emotion to speak.

"Mind if I invite Maggie?" Alex whispered to Kara.

"Go ahead. I'm calling Lena to see if she can make it. She might not, there's a bunch of buy-out stuff happening with Lord Tech right now."

"Best of luck to her in smacking him down, then."

"I said much the same thing."

 **oOo**

Kara couldn't stop smiling. All her family was here together. She giggled lightly at Eliza and Jeremiah in the kitchen, bantering like no time had passed. She looked over at Alex, who was also smiling brightly.

"I missed this," Kara said, "You?"

"Damn straight," Alex replied as she set down napkins.

"You know, last time I saw you two set a table," Jeremiah quipped, "it was only after I took your phones away."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Alex scoffed.

"Yeah, we were perfect angels," Kara added.

"Oh, that's the party line?" Eliza said, setting a salad on the table.

"I seemed to recall a lot of grumbling," Jeremiah laughed.

"Times have changed, Dad."

"Yes, we have embraced being helpful," Kara said, following her sister's rebuttal.

"On scales both large and small," Jeremiah grinned, tracing an 'S' in the air.

"Bonus, I can fly whenever I want now. Favorite power, whoot!"

The door knocked, and Kara took a brief peek before smiling.

"Heads up, daddy dearest. You're about to get your mind blown. Unless Eliza-"

"I said nothing. I wanted to see his face."

Kara grinned and opened the door to allow Maggie entry.

"I heard there was a party?" Maggie said, wiggling a skinny paper bag.

"Come on in."

Alex rushed over and hugged Maggie. As Eliza did the same, Alex squared her shoulders and turned to her father.

"Dad, this is my girlfriend, Maggie."

Jeremiah froze for a second, and Kara could see the gears in his head seizing up before he shook back to life.

"Your…huh…well…things have changed."

Alex smiled nervously, but Maggie bumped her playfully.

"Whatever he says, I can take it," she whispered, "Relax."

Jeremiah took a second before speaking again.

"There's no man on Earth good enough for Alex Danvers, so it would have to be someone like you."

"Oh, flattery," Maggie laughed, "And you're right. Alex deserves the best."

She flashed a brilliant smile and handed Jeremiah her package.

"Oh, and you brought…tequila! Okay, she's family."

"Ha!" Kara laughed, "Final score, three for three. Winner, Sanvers!"

"Oh God, you gave us a ship name," Alex groaned, but Kara just cackled.

"And on that note, want to show the kids how margaritas are done?" Jeremiah asked Eliza.

Eliza took the bottle with a smile.

"Way ahead of you."

Kara dashed over to hug Alex's arm as she breathed a sigh of relief.

"On a scale of one to crazy happy, how crazy happy are you?"

"I can't even. You?"

Kara squealed quietly and replied "And mean, sometimes I can even, but right now, I cannot even."

"Speaking of girlfriends, Kara," Jeremiah called out, "You hiding someone special from us? If so, where are they?"

"Yes, and busy, unfortunately."

"Shame."

Alex bit her tongue to keep from laughing. Kara and Lena were keeping it on the down-low for now, but when it finally hit the air, Alex was going to have a blast watching the fireworks. And woe to anyone who tried to get between them.

If it got bad enough, Alex might even let Lena borrow her cool alien gun.

The margaritas went well, and soon enough, dinner was on the table. When everyone's back was turned, Kara speedily filled her glass with something that had been hidden in the back of her fridge.

Dinner continued in much the same manner, brightness and warmth abounding. Jeremiah just finished telling a story about a young Alex, to his daughter's chagrin and Maggie's delight.

"I had no idea-"

"Don't even!"

Jeremiah just gave a big belly laugh.

Kara honestly hated to bring down the mood, but there was nothing for it. There really was no use putting it off.

She cleared her throat and took a breath.

"I…actually have some news…and I hate to kill the mood, but it's something I've been sitting on for a while now."

Kara nervously tapped her glass, and Jeremiah's eyes widened slightly.

"So, it happened a while back…and I probably could have said something at Thanksgiving, but I couldn't find the words. It…it hurt, honestly. Only a few people know about it, and I like to keep it that way…I've already had one friend freak out. We don't speak much anymore."

Kara paused, her eyes glued to her glass.

"I'm honestly afraid of more rejection…and even barring that, it's…it's hard, living with this day to day. The burden is heavy. I feel so bad sometimes, and I just get lost in the noise for a while before I can pull myself out…I just…I don't like to talk about it. Some days, it feels like I'm half the girl I used to be…"

"Kara."

Kara looked up at Eliza, seeing her adoptive mother look at her with worry.

"Whatever it is, you don't have to be afraid. You're my daughter, and nothing will change that. Now for Pete's sake, stop beating around the bush. What did you want to tell us?"

Kara took a deep breath and picked up her glass.

"Well for starters, this isn't fruit juice."

"What is it?"

And Kara popped out her fangs.

Eliza blinked rapidly before letting out a small "Oh."

"Yeah," Kara replied, taking a small sip of her blood, "Not something I ever thought I'd have to deal with."

"How…"

"It's a long story…"

And slowly, a little at a time, the story was told. The background of vampires, the attack, Shanoa and her husband saving Kara's life, the ways things have changed. Alex was with Kara every step of the way, interjecting when Kara's voice failed her and explaining the measures she helped put into place to help Kara.

"A lot of DEO agents opened up a vein to make a little food bank for her. Every couple weeks, we have a quick blood drive to top off Kara's stores of bags. Once in a while, when she needs something fresher than a bag, I bare my neck and let her have what she needs."

"That was actually how I found out," Maggie spoke up, "I walk in and see Supergirl with her mouth on my girlfriend's throat, I find out she's a vampire, and I assume I walked in on something a lot more _intimate_. They looked so disgusted at the idea, it's kind of funny in hindsight. They told me everything after that."

"So," Jeremiah spoke up, "The Cadmus guard…I wasn't wrong in my assumptions."

Eliza looked at her husband, shocked.

"You knew?"

"I figured it was something like this when I went to free her and got interrupted. We struggled, and then she tackled the guard and ripped out his throat with her teeth. I didn't press because the second she was done, she was horrified. And it really wasn't the time to sit around for a long explanation."

"I was weak and in pain from the power drain Cadmus put me through," Kara said, "It wouldn't normally happen, but in that instance, I was delirious from weakness. When I saw an opening and a target, I went feral. I'm not proud of that."

She then looked at Eliza, pained.

"It's taken a long time to get used to this, but I haven't come to terms with every part. Sometimes…a lot of times…I wonder if I ever will. So I won't hold it against you if you can't handle this."

Eliza stared at her for a moment, then got up, walked around the table, and pulled Kara's head close to her body, stroking her hair like she had when Kara got upset as a child.

"Oh my little girl, I'm so sorry."

Kara closed her eyes and hummed in sadness.

Nothing more needed to be said.

 **oOo**

"And now I'm starting to get suspicious too. Rao dammit."

Kara looked on as J'onn officially reinstated Jeremiah as a DEO agent. Sure, he wasn't cleared for field work, just support staff, but it was still a major step in a direction that Kara didn't see coming.

After everything that happened, Kara would have pegged him for retirement. Maybe helped the DEO freelance like Eliza did, at the very least. He would have spent time recovering, getting used to his disability, creating something new with Eliza after so long apart.

Instead, there he was, suited up in the standard black and shaking hands with his new boss.

"If I'm going to move forward, I can't ignore my past," he had said, "Cadmus changed me, they tried to break me. But in the process, they made me dangerous. I know their weaknesses, and I'm here to work with all of you to make our planet safer."

Kara was starting to get a feeling. A feeling she didn't like. And try as she might, she couldn't stop herself from looking at everything that had transpired recently.

One, Cadmus rarely made mistakes like this, and if Jeremiah was such a big part of their science as he made himself out to be, the chances of a mistake that let the DEO take him back were…slim. The DEO had been keeping an eye out for years, and he's just suddenly right in front of them?

Two, he had been acting a little off since he got back. While a lot could be chalked up to PTSD, there was the fact that he hadn't risen to comfort her during her confession like Eliza had. That didn't gel with how he was when she was younger. Whenever she was having a panic attack, he was usually the first to help her. Why did he miss this chance?

Three, her instincts were starting to blare. Not full on DANGER WILL ROBINSON but more a _I've got a bad feeling about this_ kind of way.

Her foster father was back, and that was a good thing…so why did she feel like Han Solo in the trash compactor?

Kara let out a slow breath through pursed lips, then slipped over to Winn.

"Winn, do me a favor?"

"Sure, what's up?"

"Keep an eye on Jeremiah. I just…I have this feeling."

"You and Shanoa," Winn replied, "She asked me to do that earlier. What are the chances that both vampires are off base about this? I don't want to bet money on it."

"Just…keep your eyes open…I really hope it's just paranoia, but-"

"Kara, I got it," Winn said in a comforting tone, "I'll monitor his location and comms, if something comes up, I'll tell you and J'onn."

"You're a good friend, Winn."

"I know," he chuckled, "But do me a favor? If Alex finds out about this, hide me."

 **oOo**

They didn't have to wait long.

"He did what."

"He broke into the DEO mainframe," Winn said, tapping at his tablet.

Alex stood there, stunned. J'onn was much the same. Kara was trying to remain calm.

"What was he doing?"

"What was who doing?" came Jeremiah's voice, "Is it something about the fusion bomb?"

Everyone looked at the approaching Jeremiah, who slowed.

"Okay, hard looks. What's going on?"

"Simple question," Kara said, "Why were you accessing classified files?"

"Where you spying on me?"

"Answer the question."

Jeremiah looked very calm as he answered "I was looking at old case files. I tried to use my old passkey, but the access codes changed, so I did a workaround. It was just case files for the last twenty-four months or so. I wanted to see what my daughters had been up to. The crises you faced, the people you saved, the adventures you've been on. I've been away for so long…case histories were just a way to feel like I was there. I'm sorry."

Alex looked touched as her father looked at her with pride.

"Winn?" J'onn asked.

Winn tapped away, and confirmed that those files had been accessed.

"Then why didn't you just ask?" Kara asked, trying to reconcile the suspicions with the feelings of pride that were welling up when he explained about his knowledge seeking.

"Kara," Alex hissed.

Kara shifted awkwardly.

"It's okay, it's my fault," Jeremiah said, "I still need to shed some of the sneak mentality that kept me alive during my imprisonment."

Alex gave her father a small hug, then dragged Kara off for a private talk.

"What is the matter with you?" Alex hissed.

Kara knew this was coming. Sure, she had been close to Jeremiah, but this was Alex's father. She had had more time with him, he was a big part of her life. Losing him killed something inside Alex, so it didn't take a detective to figure out that Alex would be very defensive if any suspicion was aimed his way. Her father was back, and woe be to anyone who tried to take him away.

But this needed to be said, no matter how much it hurt.

"Alex, you have to admit, him breaking into the system…it's weird!"

"He missed out on over a decade as our father. I don't blame him for wanting to catch up, however he can."

"Then why not ask?" Kara argued, "We're right here. And he spent an hour with J'onn today, why does he have to wait until he's alone to access the system?"

"You really don't trust him, do you?" Alex asked, looking hurt.

"It's Cadmus I don't trust. We've never faced anything like them before, and we owe it to ourselves to look at every angle. I will do what I have to, to protect us."

"Then I guess you've chosen your side."

The coldness in Alex's voice made Kara shiver, but she powered through.

"Alex, it isn't about sides!"

"Yes it is! You're either part of this family or you're not!"

"Don't give me that!" Kara shouted, her fangs now on display, "I would do anything for you, you know that! If someone was standing over you with a gun in his hand, I'd kill him on the spot! And right now, Cadmus is the one holding a gun to your head! Jeremiah's been in their grip for years! You've seen the things that place has churned out, who knows what they did to him that we don't know about. Like…he could be a sleeper agent, he could be spying on us and not even know it! Or something worse!"

Alex paused, the show of fangs finally getting through just how worried and scared Kara was.

"You've thought about this," she said slowly.

"Shanoa sensed something weird about him first," Kara replied, calming a bit, "And now I'm starting to pick up on something. The last time something like this happened, where these instincts were pinging, you had been replaced by a White Martian. Look, if I'm wrong, you can be the first one to tell me so. Rao, _I_ want to be wrong! But what happens if I'm right?"

Alex leaned against the wall, the full horror of possibility finally settling over her.

"But…we just got him back…"

"I know," Kara replied, sounding utterly lost, "That's what's so horrible about it all…that there's a chance this whole thing is a wish off a monkey's paw. Rao, give us strength. Let us be wrong…"

 **oOo**

That night, the scans finally picked up on something. Cadmus was moving the fusion bomb.

A squad of DEO agents led by Supergirl and Alex stormed up to the warehouse and kicked in the door, ready to throw down…

But were met by nothing.

" _J'onn, please advise, there's no sign of target_ ," came Alex's voice over the comm.

"Dammit, they spoofed us," Jeremiah growled.

"Sweep the warehouse, look for any clues," J'onn ordered.

Jeremiah stalked off, muttering about needing some air. It was only a minute later that J'onn realized he hadn't been heading toward the balcony.

Jeremiah took the elevator down to the mainframe. Working quickly, he dove into the data and found what he was looking for. As he plugged a device into the computer, he heard a voice behind him.

"The National Alien Registry?"

Jeremiah whirled around to see Shanoa with a flat look on her face.

"Well, well, well. Doesn't this look _guilty._ "

Without a word, he lashed out with his right hand, but Shanoa turned to mist and slipped around his arm, which made a small crater in the wall.

"What in blazes?" the reforming Shanoa asked before reaching for her own comm.

"J'onn, get down here! Central mainframe, Jeremiah's gone rou-"

A punch broke her report, and she staggered back.

"Metal?"

Shanoa glared at Jeremiah, her eyes filling with red.

"You're a cyborg."

"Smarter than Henshaw too," he said, a small canister suddenly in his hand.

A spray hit Shanoa's face, and she shrieked in pain.

"Aerosol laced with garlic juice and finely ground silver. If it makes you feel better, I told no one about Kara. But I figured she'd try to stop me, so I prepared. This seemed to be the most nonlethal response. I didn't want to kill her, after all."

"You are making a grave mistake, _human_ ," Shanoa snarled through her pain.

"Took the words right out of my mouth," came J'onn's voice as he passed through the wall in his full Martian glory.

He landed a punch on Jeremiah, but he quickly recovered, and pulled a stick from his pocket.

"J'onn, stay back, I don't want to hurt you."

"What do you even think you're doing?"

"What I have to!"

"So do I."

J'onn charged, but the stick lit up. Jeremiah shoved the flare into J'onn's face, forcing him back. Jeremiah saw Shanoa rising out of the corner of his eye, and prepared the spray again, but she misted around him and grabbed his arm.

"This one is the human arm," she said, "This one I can break—GAH!"

Shanoa staggered back, her face on fire. She hurriedly tried to put it out with magic.

"I can't let either of you stop me," Jeremiah said, "I'm walking out of here."

"Not unless you've got Kryptonite we don't know about," J'onn smirked around his small burns.

"What?"

"I called Supergirl right before I came down here."

On the streets of National City, people were enjoying the night. Suddenly, there was a streak of red and blue, moving almost too fast to see. The wind surged in the blur's wake, strong enough to send people staggering.

"What was that?" asked a young lady.

"If I had to guess," replied an old man, "Someone's about to get nailed."

Supergirl hit the balcony hard enough to crack it. The automated doors began to open, but not fast enough for her. She turned into mist and shot through the opening.

A roiling cloud surged through the halls until it found the scene of the battle. Jeremiah was shoved away and slammed into the wall, and the cloud turned back into an angry Supergirl, who growled at the man with bared fangs and glowing eyes.

"What. The. HELL?"

Jeremiah had dropped his weapons from the force of the blow, but he still had his cybernetic arm, which he beat at the Kryptonian arm keeping him pinned to the wall. But his blows were ineffective.

"Funny story. I didn't get much of a strength boost from being a vampire. But even newbloods have instinctive control of their strength. It translated over to the strength I already had. And it's been very _helpful._ For one thing, I can kiss my girlfriend without worrying about breaking her nose."

Jeremiah paused in his attempted escape.

"You're gay too?"

"Bisexual, technically. It really shouldn't come as a surprise that a child who grew up in a different culture has different notions about sexuality."

Supergirl held Jeremiah there until J'onn and Shanoa could recover, and Winn could get down there and see what damage has been wrought.

As it turned out, the device that had been inserted into the mainframe copied a series of files and transmitted them to another location, and that job had been completed just as Supergirl had arrived.

"I saw him access the files of the National Alien Registry," Shanoa said, her skin will pink and raw despite her healing magics.

"I can confirm that," Winn said, "If I were a betting man, I'd say the profiles and locations of every alien within a hundred miles, maybe more, is in the hands of Cadmus."

"I am suddenly glad we got Kara under an exception, so she isn't in there," J'onn said.

"Why?" Kara growled, her vampire nature still on full display.

"I've seen pictures. Lillian showed me pictures of you and Alex, pictures taken from sniper scopes. If I didn't do this, I would have lost you."

"And in doing it, you have anyway. And even barring that, did you really expect Lillian would keep her word? She'd hang her own daughter out to dry! Congratulations, genius. You made a deal with the DEVIL!"

And with that, Supergirl dragged him to a holding cell and tossed him in, letting her final words haunt him as she locked him up.

"Eliza and Alex would be ashamed of you."

 **oOo**

Supergirl stood outside a junkyard the next afternoon, waiting. She finally heard the roar of a motorcycle, and looked on sadly as Alex pulled up.

"I cleared everything with the owner. Twenty-five dollars and an autograph, and he'll leave us alone, no questions asked."

"He guess what we're here for?"

"I think he figured it was venting, but he didn't pry. How's Eliza taking it?"

"Honestly, better than I am," Alex grumbled, grabbing a sledgehammer that had been waiting by the door for her, "I think she'd come to terms with the quote-unquote 'death' of her husband a long time ago. Me, I still had hope…but Cadmus took it away."

The two headed inside and began to lay into a junk car that Kara had had set aside for them. The clang of steel and the cries of broken hearts pierced the air for most of the afternoon.

When they finally stopped, they were both in tears. Alex let the sledgehammer slip from her fingers as Kara hugged her.

"The worst part is, I can understand why," Alex whispered, "If I were in his position, if I were being blackmailed with your life…I'd do the same thing. And that terrifies me."

Kara didn't have an answer for that, other than hugging Alex tighter.

 **oOo**

"I'm not a psychic, or an empath. But I am good at reading people. They're going to be feeling the pain from this for some time."

J'onn looked up from his paperwork, seeing Shanoa leaning against the doorframe. He sighed and beckoned her in.

"And you're concerned."

"You aren't?" Shanoa asked.

"Of course I am, I just want to hear your side."

Shanoa sat down and composed herself.

"Alex…she strikes me as someone with a temper, and who treats her ties with the greatest importance."

"Yes, she'll be bent out of shape about this for a long time yet. Alex is the kind to hold a grudge."

"I think Kara's going to be worse, though."

"She's learned to control her anger very effectively."

"But that doesn't mean it's not there. And it's not just anger I'm worried about. One of the positive things you can say about the original vampire strain is that it is very protective of those deemed family. If an original vampire sensed a threat, that threat would be dealt with, swiftly and likely painfully. You see that kind of behavior in wolves. A threat to one wolf brings down the wrath of the entire pack. Combine that with Kara's own already-strong protective instincts…"

Shanoa left the sentence hanging, and J'onn grimaced.

"You think she might do something rash?"

"Anyone else would be in for a beating. Recall what shape Henshaw was in after the Luthor vault affair. But this threat came from within. It came from someone she trusted, someone from her family. An act of betrayal…yes, she has to be more twisted up than a pretzel. I don't know what will happen next."

"I suppose we can only hope for something or someone to bring her calm," J'onn sighed.

 **oOo**

"I missed him. I mourned him. I hoped for his survival. I finally get him back…but the enemy still has hooks in him. That's the worst part."

Lena held Kara close, letting the blonde cry against her shoulder.

"I know how you feel," Lena said, "When I finally realized how far Lex had fallen…it broke me, seeing someone I loved so much became something so horrible. But if I'm being honest, I think you can take some comfort here. Lex made his own choices, no one forced him. Jeremiah was doing everything to protect his family."

"By making a deal with the devil!" Kara argued.

Lena stroked Kara's hair, shushing her.

"I never said that would make the pain go away completely. If you want to be angry at someone, be angry at Lillian. She's the one responsible. She took your father and turned him into a weapon. Be angry at her."

"She's hurt so many people," came Kara's muffled voice from Lena's shoulder.

"I know."

"She's killed, she's ripped families apart."

"She has."

"Sometimes, I just want to rip her throat out."

Lena paused, wondering about the strange growl in her girlfriend's voice, but shrugged it off.

"I think I'd be alarmingly okay with that. I'd shoot her dead myself if she ever hurt you."

Kara leaned back, eyes wet.

"Is it wrong that we seem to be actively plotting grisly murder? I feel like that's a bad thing."

"It's natural to feel betrayed. It's natural to want to see the guilty party punished. And Lillian is so guilty, I'm certain there were several jury members who wanted to push for the electric chair."

"Yeah, if this were Krypton, she'd be in the Phantom Zone faster than you could say 'go to jail'."

"You know, when Lillian had kidnapped me, on the way to Lex's bunker, she tried to give me some crock about how this was better for me, that we could be family, that she only wanted what was best, blah blah blah. I told her to go fuck herself sideways."

Kara reared back, a shocked grin on her face.

"You did not!"

"The best part is I said it in Irish, so she had no idea what I said until Corben translated. Apparently, he knows a lot of curse words in other languages."

"That is so bad."

"You love it."

Kara laughed, she couldn't help it. When she finished, she halfway collapsed back into Lena's arms.

"It still sucks, though."

"Hey, I'm here for you, Kara," Lena said, "We can figure this out together. Between the two of us, we can find a way. A Luthor and a Super working together? I pity anything that's in our way."

Kara just hummed and snuggled closer.

"You're good at this," Kara said, "This supportive thing."

"Good, because I'm mostly working blind. What we have? I've never felt anything like it."

"Same."

And they laid there for a while, enjoying the closeness and warmth.

"So, Eliza's going to be in town a little longer…and I feel like I should give her some good news."

"Are you asking me to meet your mom?" Lena squeaked.

"Why so nervous all of the sudden? She's going to love you!"

"If you're sure…"

"Of course I am."

Lena plastered on a smile.

"Can't wait, then."

"Your heart's accelerating."

"Darn super-hearing…"


	15. Exodus

_So, am I the only one who expected Cadmus to have another big play after the Exodus episode? Seriously, they're the main antagonists of the season, but Lillian Luthor doesn't have nearly as big an impact in the finale as that would indicate. Exodus is kind of the swan song for them, especially since they seem to have disappeared for Season 3. We got an episode with Lillian, but that was more about the twisted mother/daughter thing she and Lena have than anything about Cadmus._

 _Well, rest assured, they've got a little more gas in the tank after this. Just be patient._

* * *

 **Supergirl: Blood Ties**

Chapter 15

Exodus

"Kara—"

"You're nervous."

"How'd you guess?"

"I'm very aware of your heartbeat."

"How aware?"

" _Very_."

"Full disclosure, I've never met anyone's parents. At least, anyone I was in a relationship with. Partly because I've never had many, but…"

Kara made a motion with her hand, urging Lena to go on.

"And this is your mother. This is the woman who took you in and raised you. And I don't have a lot of experience with mothers."

"Or good ones at least," Kara muttered before speaking up, "Don't worry. She's going to love you. I do."

Lena took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

The elevator opened, and Kara led Lena to the hotel room where Eliza was staying. Her foster mother honestly hated to inconvenience her daughters, and despite protests, always got a hotel room when she was in National City.

Kara often found herself sweeping the area near the relevant hotel when that happened.

A quick knock on the door, and there was Eliza. Lena could see some of Kara in the older woman's smile.

"Kara! I was wondering when you'd get here."

Kara hugged her, then pulled Lena inside.

"So, I said I had happier news. This is Lena…my girlfriend."

Eliza studied Lena, who felt like she was a bug under a microscope.

"As in Lena Luthor?" Eliza asked slowly.

"I'm afraid so," Lena said, trying to be light and failing.

Eliza leaned closer to Kara.

"Does she know about-"

"She knows I'm an alien, and about my night job. She loves me anyway. I believe her exact words were 'Supergirl is my hero because she's Kara Danvers.'"

Lena nodded nervously as Eliza look back at her. Finally, Eliza stepped forward and hugged her.

Lena relaxed considerably. A small part of her wished for this to happen more often. There was something in this hug that reminded Lena of a very dim memory. A warm embrace with a touch of rocking, a soothing voice singing a light tune…

"It figures that both my exceptional girls fall for equally exceptional people," Eliza said upon breaking the hug.

"You're not leery about-"

Eliza made a dismissive gesture.

"If you actually were anything like your family, Kara wouldn't have touched you with a ten foot pole. The fact that you two are apparently this close speaks more volumes to me than anything else."

Kara laughed.

"Told you she's love you."

The sound of Lena's heart calming was music to Kara's ears.

The three had a nice time. Eliza asked Lena about her work, and Lena found another scientific mind to bounce off of, even if it was a different class than engineering.

"What I find most impressive is the programming work you've put into that alien detection technology," Eliza said, "I got ahold of those specs you released to bioengineers for testing purposes. That thing's a work of art."

"It took quite a bit to get it there, believe me," Lena said, "And I still want to make more modifications, that's why I released the information to the scientific community, under NDAs for proprietary technology, of course. The more minds we can get working on this, the more we can do with it in a medical setting. Prevent smallpox blanket syndrome from either side, for example. I've already gotten some feedback that's helped me improve some design aspects, make the device a little tougher…"

Lena looked directly at Kara.

"More resistant to sudden bursts of heat."

Kara had the decency to look sheepish.

"You figured that out, then?"

"Once I put some of the pieces together, the rest weren't too hard to place," Lena said with a teasing smile.

"This is an in-joke I'm missing," Eliza said, "But if we're trading those, I do have a story about a boy Kara knew in high school."

"Do tell," Lena said, at the same time as Kara exclaimed "Rao no!"

Eliza smiled as Kara turned completely red. Oh, she'd long been wanting to do this with Kara, yes she did.

It was just a parent's prerogative to embarrass their children in front of their boyfriends/girlfriends.

 **oOo**

Alex stomped into to room, taking in the cell at the other end. Behind clear walls sat her father.

"Well, what do you have to say for yourself?" Alex asked.

Jeremiah looked up briefly, then returned his gaze to the floor.

"Look at me, dammit! How could you do this? You betrayed us, betrayed everything we stood for. You sent Cadmus all they need to systematically murder countless aliens. What if Kara had been on that list, huh? What would you have done then?"

Jeremiah kept silent.

"Answer me! And don't give me any crap about blackmail, if you had come clean, we would have helped you! We could have dealt with it together. So why did you do it?"

No response, and Alex took a sharp breath.

"You betrayed everyone at the DEO. You betrayed your friends, our family, everyone I love. Did you really expect me to not be angry at you?"

"At least you'd be alive to be angry."

He looked up at her.

"Family's complicated, honey. If you ever have kids, you'd be surprised at the lengths you'd go for them."

That turned out to be the wrong thing to say.

Alex let out a harsh breath, then stormed over and opened the cell. She entered quickly and slapped him across the face.

"What's Cadmus doing?"

There was no answer, so she hit him again, harder.

" _What's Cadmus doing?"_

Jeremiah just looked her sadly.

"I won't give you anything. But, if you need to do this, I'll understand."

Alex punched him in the face.

" _What's Cadmus doing! ANSWER ME!"_

He gave a short laugh.

"You were always the best part of me."

The way he said it, so calmly, pushed Alex over the edge. She screamed and punched him again. And again. And again.

After about five repetitions of her question punctuated by blows, she stopped asking, skipping right to the punching.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed her wrist, and Alex was dragged bodily out of the cell.

"What in H'ronmeer's name do you think you're doing?" J'onn shouted, his eyes glowing red with anger.

Alex tried to stutter an explanation, but J'onn had already read her mind.

"Your judgement is askew," he growled, "Until you can get your head on straight, I'm taking you off active duty."

"You can't do that!" Alex gasped.

"I just did," he growled, shoving Alex toward the door, "Go home, Agent Danvers. I'll call you later for a psych evaluation, because you clearly need it."

Alex tried to protest, but J'onn gave her a glare that could pierce concrete.

Alex left the room. It was only once she was home that she allowed herself to break.

"God, what did I do?"

 **oOo**

Kara felt sick as she stared at the photos on the screen. Her eyes caught a child's backpack in the picture, and a fresh wave of revulsion sprang up.

"That's got to be the twentieth abduction, and that's just the ones we've traced," she said.

"And they're getting more aggressive," J'onn said, "Winn, are we any closer to finding them?"

"Or finding what they want, because that's the billion-dollar question," Shanoa said.

"It's million-"

"I've heard it as billion."

"And no on all counts," Winn continued, "I've got programs monitoring traffic cams, satellite feeds, cell phone chatter, even Twitter for God's sake. I'm guessing Jeremiah taught them how to avoid our radar. We might have to start looking into alternate means of tracking them."

"In the meantime, we have to spread the word," Kara said, "Get the warning out to as many aliens as possible. Can you issue a statement?"

"Not without compromising the DEO," J'onn replied, "We're off the books for a reason."

Kara groaned. Damn black ops secrecy.

"And we can't do it anonymously, because it won't get taken seriously…"

Suddenly, Kara had a brainwave.

"But they'll listen to CatCo. I can write an article to send out the warning."

"Will your editor run that?" Shanoa asked, looking a little skeptical, "From your complaints, he sounds like a grouch. Will he hear you out?"

"Absolutely!"

 **oOo**

Snapper didn't hear her out. In fact, his response to her proposal was "Absolutely not!"

Despite Kara's arguments, Snapper refused, stating that he wasn't going to publish a piece based off theories and a single source. He didn't want to cause a panic, which Kara understood, but she was still firm in her opinion that the warning needed to get out there. Every minute wasted was one where Cadmus would continue to hurt people.

But Snapper insisted on multiple sources, so Kara was stuck. Thus, she decided to pull out the big guns.

"What if _you_ interviewed Supergirl?"

That caught his attention.

After another minute of haggling, Kara buttering him up a bit and claiming that a veteran news hound would be able to tell if Supergirl was being credible, Snapper rolled his eyes and told her to set it up.

Kara left the office smiling, although her smile did dip a little when she heard Snapper ask aloud why Supergirl liked "that bleeding heart ball of sunshine" enough to keep giving her quotes.

Later, Supergirl took a deep breath before landing on the balcony of CatCo, clearing her throat to get Snapper's attention.

"Mr. Carr, good to meet you. I don't mind telling you, it feels weird to see this office and know that Cat Grant isn't in it."

"I suppose," Snapper said from the couch, "Although Olsen's doing good work in her absence…don't tell him I said that."

Supergirl mimed zipping her lips before walking closer.

"Miss Danvers said you had concerns about running the piece?"

"To put it mildly," he replied, growling, "Do you realize the kind of panic that'll happen if this gets published?"

"Do you realize the kind of harm this could do if it doesn't?" Supergirl countered with a raised eyebrow.

"So you say."

"Yes, so I say. Why would I lie?"

Snapper took a deep breath, seemingly centering himself.

"Right, let's get into this."

He took out a small device and pressed a button.

"You are now in the record. You good with that?"

"Wouldn't have agreed to this if I wasn't. Open book, that's me."

"How's your boyfriend?"

"None ya. I don't talk about my personal life, those are the rules, same as with Superman."

"Can't blame me for trying," Snapper snorted, "Right, real talk. Danvers said you were her source. You claim that Cadmus stole the alien registry?"

"I can confirm that."

"Awful interesting, the way you knew about the theft. That's supposed to be pretty protected information. So how'd you get it? Who's your source?"

Supergirl gave him a look before replying that the information was confidential.

"You're on the record. You just said open book."

"It doesn't matter who told me, what matters is the story."

"Not unless I can verify your story's origin," Snapper shot back, "You expect me to just trust you?"

"You know my history with reporters, from Cat Grant to today. I don't lie. The only thing I won't answer is my personal life. My word is my bond."

Snapper suppressed a snort, but Supergirl heard it. She was about to call him on it, but he spoke again.

"I know your rules, but I'm a journalist. We believe everyone is lying until we can prove otherwise."

"That's an awful cynical outlook."

"You sound like Danvers. No wonder you two get along."

Something about that sentence rubbed Kara the wrong way, so she tried a different angle. Supergirl strode over and sat down on the couch, looking Snapper straight in the eye.

"I'll level with you. I can't give you names, but I can confirm it was a classified government agency who had the list. It was stolen from their servers."

"So you got your intel from a government black site. What, you're James Bond all of the sudden? How long have you been involved with them?"

"That's a leading question, Mr. Carr," Supergirl replied, a teasing laugh on her voice to lighten the mood, "I never said I was involved with them. And I'm not the story here, Cadmus is."

"You're a big-shot superhero, you're usually the story…but fine."

Snapper closed his notebook and turned off his recorder.

"Off the record, I won't reveal I got this tidbit from you. You give me a name, I'll verify it myself, and bam, we're off to the races. So, one more time. Who told you about the stolen list?"

Supergirl's gaze became a glare.

"You're asking me to violate a trust. I won't do that. Look, you have your quotes, you have a lead. Innocent people will keep disappearing unless you run this article and get the warning out. That's the truth."

"No, I don't think you get it. You're telling me parts."

Snapper stood up suddenly, gathering his things.

"As my grandmother used to say in the shtehl, 'A half-truth is a whole lie.' You expect me to just take you on your word alone. I don't think so. Last chance, what's your source. I can't run this on half-truths."

"My word is truth!" Supergirl shot back, rising to her feet.

"Your word's not good enough."

And then Snapper turned on his heel and exited the office, leaving a stunned Supergirl behind.

 **oOo**

"I now know how my mother feels when I speak Irish around her," Lena muttered as she watched a pacing Kara spout in what Lena assumed was Kryptonian, and angry Kryptonian at that.

Finally, Kara switched back to English.

"That miserable little troll! Doesn't he care?"

"Kara, breathe!"

Kara collapsed onto the couch, huffing. Lena wrapped an arm around her and felt the steel-hard muscles slowly ease their tension.

"This is a disaster," Kara said.

"It doesn't have to be. One of the cardinal rules of business, when one door closes, look for another."

"What do you mean?"

"Now, if you were anyone else, I'd say post all your evidence online to get the word out, but you're not just a cub reporter. You're Supergirl. And Supergirl is essentially a public servant. It would be her job to get the warning out by any means necessary. If you asked the mayor to use the emergency broadcast system to get the word out, you could hit all the media outlets with the warning simultaneously."

"Will that work?"

"Like the mayor's going to say no to someone who's saved the city multiple times, heck, the whole human race once, if she has a valid warning to give."

Kara stared at her for a moment before grabbing her face and kissing her soundly.

"Lena, you're a genius!"

"I'm aware," she replied, slightly dazed from the kiss before regaining herself, "While you're doing that, I'm going to do some digging. It would be just like Lillian to use an old Luthor-Corp facility for whatever she's doing. She was on the board when Lex ran things, after all. I just need to find which one."

"I guess I can hold off the alarm for a bit, give you time to narrow things down. If Lillian gets the rug pulled out from under her from the warning, she might panic and enact her plan early."

"Attack her from all sides. When the word gets out, she'll start to panic, and you take advantage of the confusion to come down on her like the wrath of God."

Kara smiled darkly.

"When you put it like that, I can't wait. Maybe we'll actually get a picture of her face this time."

"I love it when righteously angry," Lena laughed, giving her girlfriend a kiss.

 **oOo**

"Ride or die."

Those had been Maggie's words to Alex earlier. Alex too had been venting to her girlfriend, and the two had made a plan. They had staked out the home of an alien who was one of Maggie's regular sources, and when Cadmus rolled up, the two were ready to kick butt and take names.

Alex had loved that her girlfriend was willing to do something crazy with her, and while Maggie was reluctant, she had let Alex go alone from there. Alex had hacked the Cadmus' van's GPS to find out where it had been, leaving Maggie to get word to J'onn.

On the third address, Alex hit pay dirt.

The building was an old Luthor-Corp research site, and given that it said Luthor-Corp on the side and not L-Corp, it was old and out of business. So why were there armed guards?

Alex suppressed a gleeful giggle. Now was not the time. And she wasn't her sister, she didn't giggle like a schoolgirl.

Her plan was to place several bombs in the area, sabotage what they were doing and/or provide an insurance policy for herself in case of capture. Unfortunately, Lillian had stepped up her defensive game following the loss of Henshaw and Jeremiah, and Alex was caught before she could place any bombs.

Worse, this was another cyborg. How many of these guys did Cadmus have?

The cyborg was stronger than her, and he had immediately called for back-up. On her own, Alex might have taken him out. But not with several gunmen swarming in. So she dropped her backpack and raised her hands.

"Take me to your leader."

The cyborg paused for a moment, his metallic eye glinting dangerously, then he nodded. He then roughly grabbed her arm and dragged her along.

Before long, Alex saw a small command center, several techs at the consoles. In the center stood Lillian, who soon turned and smiled grimly.

"In case you're wondering, Carl here has been equipped with a special camera in his eye. He can send images to our systems," Lillian said, "It's how I knew the intruder. Pleasure to finally meet you, Miss Danvers. Your father spoke highly of you."

Lillian cocked her head, studying her.

"Can't imagine why, if you're so stupid as to come here without backup."

"So sure I came here alone?" Alex asked, putting up a brave front, but the truth was, she was tapped out. Inside, she swore at herself for jumping so far into the deep end without a plan. This stuff with her dad really _had_ screwed with her judgement.

"If this were a sabotage mission, you wouldn't be the only one with bombs," Lillian said, inspecting the stolen backpack, "You'd also be better informed of what's going on."

"So what is going on? Enlighten me. Because that doesn't look like a bomb."

Alex jerked her head toward a console, where a streamlined shape was displayed.

"Well, if you must know, that is a Hoshin frigate, best in the Kazark fleet. As soon as it breaches the atmosphere, it's programmed to jump to light-speed, straight to Takron-Galtos. The aliens can find passage home from there."

"You're sending them back?"

"It was your father's idea," Lillian said, a hint of disgust on her face, "I would have killed them, but he was insistent on this. He wanted to give them a chance. At the very least, they can spread the word that this planet doesn't like visitors."

"That's your big plan?" Alex asked, fully disgusted, "You're forcibly deporting them? These people have escaped famine, poverty, war, _genocide_! They have nothing to go back to! _This_ is their home!"

"No, it's ours," Lillian snarled, "Earth is for humans, and I will not have them polluting this world anymore. But if you're so worried about their plight, perhaps you should join them."

She motioned toward Carl the cyborg.

"Put the alien-lover on the ship with the others."

Carl grabbed her, and she tried to struggle, but the grip was too strong. As Alex was dragged away, she called out once more to Lillian.

"My father told me you were blackmailing him! Is that true?"

"Yes, actually. It was the only way to cooperate. A parent's love for his children is a powerful thing. Of course, once our mission was complete and his usefulness at an end, I was going to have you killed anyway, perhaps even let him watch. Well, in a way, I suppose this is merciful. I'll give your sister your regards."

Alex felt something in her break. She could still never forgive her father for his actions, but at least now, she understood a bit more why. After all, hadn't she found herself willing to kill for Kara too?

 **oOo**

Supergirl breathed a heavy sigh as the camera turned off.

"I think you did well," the mayor said.

"When did you get used to appearing on camera?" she asked.

"I'll let you know when it happens."

Mayor Binder gave a wry smile, and then sighed.

"Unfortunately, the heavier the news, the harder it is to deliver."

"I have a reporter friend who said much the same."

"Not that I'm arguing, this was a good way to deliver, but why not go to them?"

"Her editor," Supergirl grumbled, "He didn't want to cause a panic, and he had strict guidelines on sources."

"And he didn't think you were a good enough source?" the mayor asked, shock lacing his voice.

"He told me that to my face. Loudly."

"Did you punch him?"

"I wanted to."

Mayor Binder shook his head, muttering "Some people."

A ringing pierced the air, and Supergirl reached into her boot and extracted an old phone.

"That's an old model."

"Easier and cheaper to replace if it gets crushed," Supergirl said, "Thanks for the help, I need to go and take this."

"Window's open."

Supergirl floated out of the office window and answered the phone.

"What's up, Lena?"

" _Pay dirt_."

"You found them?" Kara asked excitedly.

" _Activity at a Luthor facility that's supposedly defunct. Pretty big, good for building just about anything, great place to hide."_

"Send me the address, I'll mobilize some back-up. Then you lock your building down. I scared Lillian off of messing with you, but she might figure out where the tip came from."

" _Good luck, Kara."_

"Save the luck for Cadmus. They're going to need it," Kara replied grimly, her fangs starting to extend, "Love you."

" _You too, and be careful."_

 **oOo**

The DEO was abuzz when Kara arrived. Agents were rushing around, J'onn was barking orders, and Winn had zeroed in a satellite on the site.

"Lena pulled through alright," Winn said to her, "Getting a lot of heat signatures here. Had to tweak the scanning, they were using some interesting shields, but we've got them."

"We definitely owe Miss Luthor thanks," J'onn said, "But there will be time for that later. Supergirl, you, me, and Shanoa will breach first from three different angles. Three squads will converge right behind us, led by Reeve, Johnson, and Shuster. Guardian will be with Shuster."

"Wait, what was that last one?"

J'onn pointed off to the side, and Kara saw James in full Guardian gear taking with Shuster. James seemed to sense he was being watched, and turned toward Kara.

The two stared at each other for a moment before Kara shook her head and walked over to him.

"This is bigger than whatever hang-ups with each other we have are," she said.

He sighed through his nose and nodded.

"Fair. And in the interest of that, Shuster was just telling me about Alex."

Kara felt a wave of cold wash over her.

"What about Alex?"

"Her girl contacted us a little bit ago," Shuster said, "The two of them went off on their own investigation, and then Alex went to follow a lead. Sawyer was to call us if Alex was out of contact for too long. How much do you want to bet she ran into where Cadmus is?"

Kara's fangs made themselves known.

"Oh, they're in for it now."

 **oOo**

Lillian swore internally as she ordered everyone into launch positions. Supergirl had blown their plans wide open, so it was time to cut their losses. They had a few hundred aliens on board already, and while it wasn't quite what Lillian had envisioned, it was a start.

Just as the computer was announcing a system lock, preventing any override, all hell broke loose.

A green and black blur punched a hole in the ceiling. The Martian, who proceeded to land hard, turn his arm into a whip-shape, and clothesline three Cadmus agents.

One window at the top of the warehouse exploded, a roiling cloud arcing in and slamming into the ground. It coalesced into the magic-user from the docks during the Medusa incident, and she summoned a shadowy scythe and attacked.

The far doors burst open, a grey-clad man using a shield to block the reactionary gunfire. DEO agents were at his back, returning fire. Gunfire echoing made Lillian sure that this wasn't the only squad.

And a blue and red blur hit the ground hard in front of her.

"Hello, Lillian," Supergirl said, a smug grin on her face, "Lovely evening, isn't it?"

"Before we begin, I feel I should inform you, all those aliens we captured? They are on a ship, about to be launched into space."

Lillian took some pleasure at wiping the smile off the Kryptonian's face.

"Shut it down."

"I can't. The system is locked. Now, you can either deal with me, or you can try to prevent the ship from leaving the atmosphere and immediately jumping to lightspeed."

Supergirl's eyes darted to a far wall, and Lillian was certain that she was looking at the ship with x-ray vision. What she didn't know was that Kara was also concentrating her hearing, and among all the panicked alien heartbeats, she found a familiar human one.

"Ah, you see now," Lillian said, "Thus to all invaders."

Supergirl's eyes glowed red as she glared at Lillian, and Lillian fought down a shudder. She wondered if they were about to revisit the previous conversation.

But Supergirl merely spared her one last cry of disgust before rocketing off to stop the ship.

" _Those are REFUGEES,_ _ **YOU IDIOT!**_ "

Lillian would escape that day. She'd had a few escape plans in case they were ever found. And as she pondered at the events of the day, she kept coming back to one little detail from her encounter with Supergirl.

This time, she definitely saw _fangs_ in Supergirl's mouth when the alien had yelled…

 **oOo**

Alex struggled with the controls. Getting out of her cell had been easy. Using the ship's communications to contact Winn for instructions on flying the frigate had been easy. Actually getting this hunk of space junk to land, that was giving her trouble.

"Winn, whatever Lillian and her techs did to lock these controls, they did too good a job. Nothing's responding. We need to slow this down somehow!"

"Kara's on her way, Lillian was gloating. Just hang on!"

A thump from near her made Alex jump, and through the front windows, she saw her sister, bracing herself against the hull.

She looked at Alex, studying her, and Alex nodded.

"I'm okay," she said, knowing that Kara would hear her.

Kara nodded, then began to push. The ship rattled a bit, but Alex could still feel the forward momentum.

The strain was visible on her sister's face as she struggled to stop the ship. Alex spared a glance at the console, and while she couldn't quite read the language, the picture of the ship's engine and the rising redness in it indicated that the engine was increasing power to overcome the obstacle.

Alien machinery met Kryptonian muscle, both struggling for dominance.

Winn's voice echoed from the console.

"Alex, Kara wants to know where this is going. In case she can't stop it, she wants to find you and-"

"Don't talk like that," Alex interrupted, but Winn wasn't her target.

Alex placed a hand on the window, in full view of Kara.

"You've got this. I know you can win. This ship is nothing compared to you. You're Supergirl. You're my sister. You can do this, Kara."

Kara reached a hand up and touched the diamond-hard glass in front of her. Their hands shifted to match each other.

"You can do this."

"I can do this."

Outside, Kara shifted her hand back onto metal and renewed her efforts. She dove deep and dragged out every ounce of power at her disposal. Kryptonian, vampire, it didn't matter. If it saved Alex, her sister, one of the most important people in her life, then she would do it.

Her fangs popped out, her eyes glowed, her voice screamed. The strain was incredible, but she persisted. She would risk a power burnout and the resulting surge in her vampire instincts if it meant stopping this ship.

Finally, after what felt like forever, she felt the forward momentum slow and stop. The ship's engines simply couldn't take the strain, and an emergency shut-off activated, that much she could guess. But whatever the reason, it didn't matter.

She did it.

She collapsed against the metal and glass of the ship. She could feel Alex pounding at the division between then, and thumped the glass lightly to let her know everything was okay.

Then she spoke into her comm.

"Extra-large pizza, extra cheese. Two blood bags. And a bed. Have that ready when I get back. That was worse than Fort Rozz. At least it wasn't pushing back."

She heard relieved laughter from the other end, and smiled. She shifted her head and caught Alex's eye.

Her sister's hand was on the glass again. Kara placed her hand there.

 **oOo**

Alex managed to steal one slice of pizza, but the rest Kara gorged on as the two sat in the infirmary at the DEO. Alex had been given a clean bill of health, but Kara would spend another half-hour beneath sun lamps.

J'onn was giving them a quick debrief. All the kidnapped aliens were being brought back to their homes, little worse for wear. Lillian had slipped through their fingers, but they had captured several other Cadmus personnel, including Carl the cyborg. His eye was already being removed, to prevent spying.

And then they came to the elephant in the room.

"Alex, why did you go off on your own like that?" J'onn asked.

"I couldn't just sit there while this was going on. I knew this was my dad's plan, and Lillian told me I was right," Alex shot back, "I had to do something."

"I took you off the case because I was worried that, with everything happing with Jeremiah, you would be reckless, and you'd get hurt."

J'onn sighed.

"And then I almost lost you on that ship anyway."

He took a moment to recollect his thoughts before speaking again.

"I am serious about that psych evaluation. Your world got rocked, and you need to talk to someone. And then we can resume things, business as normal, provided you don't be a cowgirl on things like this…but for what it's worth, I only did what I had to to protect you."

"You sound just like him," Alex said, then got up and wrapped J'onn into a hug.

After a moment, they parted, and Alex spoke up again.

"Lillian also gloated on how Dad was being blackmailed. Threats to kill his daughters if he didn't cooperate. But Lillian said she planned to kill us anyway the second he outlived his usefulness. I think someone should tell him that."

"By someone, you mean you?" Kara asked.

"I think I've proven I can't trust myself alone with him right now," Alex deadpanned.

"I got it, you two rest," J'onn said, leaving.

When he left, Kara turned to Alex.

"So, celebration. Game night with the gang on Friday?"

"If by gang you mean us two and Winn because James is still being a tool, then yes. But I'd like to invite Maggie."

"She already has a standing invite to these. And I want to invite Lena."

"Oh, so we're getting serious, are we?" Alex smiled knowingly.

"Stop that."

Alex just laughed.

"So, quick question. She knows about Supergirl, so we don't have to skirt around that. But what about the vampire thing?"

Kara's face fell.

"So that's a no, then."

"I just don't know what to do," Kara groaned, "I don't even know where to start. And I'm terrified of what will happen when it is out in the open. I trust her, of course, but…"

"Yeah," Alex said, "BUT."

The two were silent for a moment before Kara spoke up again.

"I guess I just want to enjoy this for a little longer, without the shadow creeping in."

Alex hummed noncommittally, then got a sly look on her face.

"I know something fun we can do. We tell Maggie and Winn that you're bringing a new friend, one in on the Supergirl thing, but we don't say who. The looks on their faces will be _glorious_."

Kara grinned with mischievous glee.

"Ooo, good idea. Maybe I'll kiss Lena hello, maximize the impact."

"You are evil, little sister."

 **oOo**

When Kara got home, she brought up the article she had wanted to publish, the one warning everyone of Cadmus' plan. It was redundant now, but she couldn't bring herself to erase it. There was a lot of good information here, regardless of the sources, and good writing too, if she said so herself. She could have tried to rework it into an explanation of what had happened, but the memory of Snapper shutting her down both as Kara and Supergirl was still fresh in her mind.

What to do, what to do…

And then she got an idea. A wonderful, awful idea.

But could she do it? It seemed a bit petty to be honest.

Snapper's sneer filled her mind.

Kara frowned as she reached for her phone. Yes, she was feeling that petty…

"Hi Clark, it's Kara! Listen, I need a favor…"

Like Lena said, when one door closed, look for another.

* * *

 _Oh, before I forget, Mayor Binder is named after Otto Binder, who gave us the original Supergirl, the first Kara Zor-El._


	16. Ties of Light

_Before we begin, I want to share with you all something that popped up recently. The first truly harsh piece of criticism I've had on this story. Well, I say_ criticism _, but it's more like just an attack on my writing. You all know the type. The reviews that are just_ It sucks, so there. _Yeah, the pointless ones._

 _From one KiaraVan:_

It makes no sense in the slightest why Kara didn't just tap Lillian on the neck to knock her out and then go to the ship instead of chatting with her. But whatever you know, making it as stupid as the TV show makes complete sense.

 _Point one, the reason I didn't do this is the same reason the writers of the show didn't._ I wanted to use Lillian Luthor again. _I suppose both myself and the showrunners could have had another escape from prison, but that strains the suspension of disbelief a bit for it to happen twice. Besides, I didn't want to fall into the same trap as Arkham Asylum, wherein the main doors are revolving ones._

 _Point two, the definition of constructive criticism is thus. A recommended set of instructions that aims to improve the overall quality of a product/service. Often containing helpful and specific suggestions for positive change, it is focused on a particular issue or set of issues. For the folks at home, does any of the above review seem constructive at all by that definition? Precisely._

 _As with any author in the site, I hope for positive reviews, but know that there will be people who aren't happy with my story. To those people, I merely ask that you be civil in your responses._

 _As for those of you who will not take this to heart, I direct you and your flames to my new intern, who will be helping moderate. Say hello, Tempest._

 **GYYYYYYAAAAAAARRRRRR!**

 _Yes, that is a Gyarados. Anyone here for the sole purpose of being insulting, I direct you to the nice sea serpent the size of a school bus. I look forward to your arguments._

 _And now, with all the teachable moments out of the way, the aftermath of the attempted Exodus._

* * *

 **Supergirl: Blood Ties**

Chapter 16

Ties of Light

Despite her talk about a yurt, Cat Grant had only spent about a month in one before leaving, part of her epiphany made. Since she had made it clear it was a year off and she wanted to stick with that, she made more plans. One of those was a little cross-country trip with Carter.

And not a funky, suburbanite family road trip either. She was Cat Grant, dammit, she traveled in style.

Carter certainly didn't mind the trip. It was a good experience for him, learning about America with his own eyes. He still had school work to keep up with, mind, but there was little that could bring down seeing Niagara Falls or the Smithsonian with his own eyes.

They were in Washington DC for the latter at the moment. They had spent all day yesterday at the Museum of Natural History, and the Air and Space Museum was next. Carter was particularly excited about their recently-opened alien worlds exhibit, which included lots of information on alien planets and cultures, gleaned from visitors and immigrants from the stars. There was even a section about Krypton, made in collaboration with Superman.

Cat had wondered if Kara had had any input on that one, or if she even knew about it. It was a new exhibit.

As she dressed for the day, Cat found herself sharing her son's enthusiasm. She couldn't even bring up a token protest about today. It just felt good for some reason.

Then her phone dinged, and Cat felt the mood slip a little as she read the incoming text.

' _plz don't be mad, the word had to get out, and Snapper was being a butt_ '

"Kara, what did you do?" she asked herself, and texted Kara as such.

While waiting for an answer, Cat and Carter went down to have breakfast in the hotel's café.

"This is so much nicer than the words 'continental breakfast' would have you believe," Cat said.

Carter didn't answer, he was enjoying his waffles too much.

Her cell pinged again, Kara having finally responded.

' _I take it you haven't seen the Daily Planet yet_ '

Her attention well and truly gotten, she brought her purse out.

"Carter, be a dear and grab today's Daily Planet."

"I'm sorry, what?" Carter asked, well aware of his mother's distaste for the publication.

"Just do it, it has something to do with Kara. You remember her, right?"

Carter nodded. He had liked his mother's former assistant, and had sent her a nice card upon learning of her promotion.

Carter wiped his hands and took the offered money to fetch a paper. A few minutes later, he came back, his eyes scanning the front page.

"I think I know what Kara was talking about," he said, turning the paper over to reveal a headline about Supergirl.

The byline read Clark Kent and Kara Danvers.

"What."

Cat's flat reply was all the impetuous Carter needed to clear a space on their table and lay the paper down. Together, the two read the story, learning about Cadmus' attempt to illegally deport hundreds of aliens, most of them from National City and the surrounding environs, about how Lena Luthor found the trail that led to her estranged mother the terrorist, and about how Supergirl, with the help of government agents, stopped Cadmus in their tracks.

They also read about how Supergirl, first through a reporter she trusted by the name of Kara Danvers, tried to get the word out, and about how it was rebuffed by Kara's editor Lucas 'Snapper' Carr. And about how Supergirl tried to tell Carr herself, only to be rudely rejected when she couldn't reveal classified information from the government agents who later helped foil Cadmus.

It was the final paragraph that really got Cat's goat.

" _In the end, I was forced to use the full weight of my name to gain access to National City's emergency broadcast system in order to get the warning out, something I was loath to do. I don't like having to wield my name and reputation like a club, but Snapper Carr forced my hand. Which is also why Kara and I took this story to Clark Kent, a man my cousin has an acknowledged professional respect for. He was willing to hear our story, and with only some simple checking, corroborated it with his own sources. He even accepted that I could not tell him everything concerning my own sources, and was willing to work around that. This was what Clark Kent was willing to do, this was what Snapper Carr was unwilling to do. In the interests of truth, Kara and I decided to take this to someone who showed more professionalism."_

Cat slowly put the paper down, letting the impact of what she had read fully sink in. And when it had…

"SON OF A-"

"WEASEL!"

Cat looked at her son oddly, who shrugged.

"I don't like it when you curse."

 **oOo**

Snapper muttered to himself as he stalked across the floor. He was a busy person, and now James Olsen was sticking his nose in his wheelhouse again.

"It's always something," he muttered as he made a beeline to the CEO office.

He entered the room in a rush, to be greeted by a stone-faced Olsen.

"So, what did you want to talk about?"

Olsen didn't answer, he just got up, walked past him, and closed the door.

"Have a seat, Snapper," he said, indicating the chair in front of the desk.

Snapper sat down in the chair, and as Olsen made his way into his own seat, he suddenly felt like he'd been called to the principal's office.

The feeling got worse when Olsen fiddled with something on his computer, attaching a web-cam to the top of his laptop and twisting the eye around so that it faced Snapper.

"What is this?"

"I'm not the only one who wanted to talk to you," was the terse reply.

Then suddenly, the main TV behind the desk fizzed, and Cat Grant was glaring down at him in high definition.

"Hello, Mr. Carr," she said, her voice as cold as the arctic.

Snapper paled slightly. This was going to hurt.

"So," she continued, bringing a newspaper into view, "Care to explain this?"

He recognized it as today's Daily Planet, and he frowned. He'd read it, yes, and he'd been waiting all day to tear strips out of Kara Danvers over it, but she hadn't showed, no doubt wanting to avoid him.

"If you're referring to Danvers' article, I've seen it. Don't worry, I'll be having words with her about breaking the exclusivity clause in her contr-"

"I've got that covered," Olsen interjected, "What we're referring to is the last few paragraphs. The ones indicting you as the reason Danvers jumped ship. Something about being pigheaded towards a public safety issue?"

"She didn't have any proper sources-"

"So Supergirl isn't a proper source now, is that it?" Cat growled, "Because I've read the article, and I had a chat with Miss Danvers. You'd be surprised to know that the Planet article was actually Supergirl's idea. Something that wouldn't have been necessary if you hadn't been an ass in that interview."

The bottom dropped out of Snapper's stomach.

"You see, that's the part I don't get," she continued, "Supergirl likes to believe in people. She's naturally sunny, and not a generally petty person. So you must have really pissed her off for her to take this step. And I find myself just as pissed, not because you ignored a credible threat to the public, although that's up there. I'm mad because one of our biggest new sources felt angry enough over a single interview to pack up her exclusivity for a day and take her story to one of our biggest competitors."

If it were possible, Cat's face grew angrier.

"An interview you did. An interview where you snubbed her and told her that her story was garbage. Not in so many words, but in your actions. That was a _poor_ choice, Mr. Carr. That woman broke big with Cat Co's help. We helped shape her public persona. She trusts us to get the facts concerning her and her adventures right, and we get all the hero content we need to boost ourselves. She is more than happy to give us exclusives because we treat her right. AND YOU JEOPARDIZED THAT!"

Snapper reared back at the volume.

"She…she wouldn't give her sources," she stammered, "I couldn't deem her credible without-"

Cat's bitter laugh cut him off.

"Are you serious? I knew you were abrasive, I didn't know you were stupid. Supergirl is by herself a credible source. She only lies about her personal life, and even then, she's bad at it."

"True," Olsen interjected, "Her first interview, she made a slip-up regarding family. I doubt she wanted her relation to Superman to be out there so early, probably wanted to have a spotlight to herself for a while. It's why she outright refuses to answer personal questions, a policy Superman shares, and an event only fools try to create. She won't answer, and she'll get angry that you tried."

"And it's an unwritten fact that she occasionally works with an agency that polices aliens and captures rouge ones," Cat continued, "Where do you think the bad ones go? They can't all be locked up with Livewire and Metallo. No doubt the prime source for her information at the time was this agency, which she clearly can't talk too much about."

"She did mention her source was classified," Snapper offered weakly.

"Maybe you should have believed her," Cat snarled.

The words hung in the air for a moment before Olsen cleared his throat.

"There's something else."

He reached under his desk and extracted a file folder stuffed with papers.

"You see this? This is all the complaints I've received about you. Your workplace etiquette truly is atrocious. I've warned you about this before, that I run an office of respect. Consider this your second strike. You don't get to yell at your employees for stupid reasons. Even Cat has to have reasons when she's being snippy. Whatever you've been doing, it's not going to fly anymore."

"Consider all this a final warning," Cat hissed, "You are officially on thin ice, Mr. Carr. Tread carefully."

Snapper sat there, trying to cover the gulp he made from the force of Cat's glare.

"Dismissed," Cat and Olsen said together, and Snapper quickly left, eager to be rid of this fresh slice of hell.

"One more thing," Olsen called out, "I'm handling Kara Danvers' disciple for the Planet stunt. If I find out you've retaliated against her for all this, I'll throw you out myself."

"If that happens, do let me know how much distance you get," Cat added, "He's small, you could probably clear the street with that throw."

 **oOo**

Kara had ended up getting a slap on the wrist for breaking her exclusivity deal. Whatever rift there was between them personally, James did his best to keep things professional at the office, and he recognized that the public trust was more important in this instance than her contract.

He warned against doing it again, however.

Despite his assurances of protection, Kara felt nervous at work for the next few days, and spent as much time as possible avoiding Snapper, who was quietly sullen after his official rebuke.

So she was glad when Friday finally arrived.

Kara downed a blood bag before getting to work in setting up. The apartment was cleaned, food was made/ordered, and the main area was set up for fun.

Alex arrived with Maggie, unsurprisingly, but that Winn was with them raised an eyebrow.

"They gave me a lift," he said in response to Kara's confused look, "So, this everyone?"

"Not quite," Kara answered, "We're still waiting on someone."

"Who, James? He didn't say anything to me."

Kara ignored Alex's muffled snickers as she answered, "Nor would he have. He and I only talk about work-related matters now."

"He'll come around."

"I've decided not to waste my breath waiting," Kara replied sadly, "Now, enough of that. We have someone new coming. Avoid any talk of vampires, they don't know about that."

"Do they know about your other job?" Maggie asked.

"Yes."

Maggie gave a surprised grunt, but further questions were halted by the knock on the door.

What happened next would raise more questions.

Kara opened the door and smiled brightly.

"Lena! You made it!"

"Of course I did, _mo chroí_ ," Lena smiled, "I've been waiting for this all week."

"Well, I'm glad you're here," Kara said, before pulling Lena into a deep kiss.

Winn's jaw hit the floor. Maggie's joined him. The second Kara and Lena parted, they started sputtering their shock.

" _Qué._ "

"What the H?"

" _¿Qué?"_

"When and how?

" _¿¡Qué?!"_

"Did I just see what I thought I saw?"

" _¿¡QUÉ?!"_

"Kara, where is this coming from?"

"Winn, you have a girlfriend of your own, now," Kara said, "You should know what this means."

"Now, now, Kara," Lena purred, "They're clearly in a state of shock, if their expressions are anything to go by."

Alex, meanwhile, couldn't breathe, she was laughing too hard.

Kara and Lena gently sat Winn and Maggie down and explained everything. They left out a few details, such as what exactly happened the night of the confession, that was for them. But by the time they were finished, the room was filled with grins.

"Well, congratulations, you crazy kids," Winn said.

"You certainly seem happy, if that kiss was anything to go by," Maggie said.

Kara only smiled and held Lena's hand.

"So, you figured the alien thing out yourself, eh? Those glasses do not help much, do they?"

"Well, to be fair," Lena said, "the number of people who have spent time in the company of both Kara and Supergirl is a small number."

"Which suddenly makes me wonder about Cat Grant," Winn said.

Kara wisely bit her tongue.

"Different note," Winn continued, "Kara, I distinctly remember a conversation during which you said you weren't gay. Vehemently."

"You were being ridiculous at the time. And I'm not."

"That looked pretty gay."

"Or bi."

"Okay, that sounds like a technicality."

"As a veteran of the LGBT community, I can safely say, no, it's not," Maggie interjected, "Alex, please stop smiling like that, it's unsettling."

"I can't. My baby sister's got a special sweetheart. And they're adorable."

Maggie sighed at her fondly, then looked at Lena uncomfortably.

"Something wrong?" she asked.

"Yeah, I… _Madre de Dios_ , this is awkward. I wanted to apologize for arresting you that one time."

"Oh."

An awkward tension suddenly filled the room.

"I just," Maggie continued, "Maybe I should have pushed back on my lieutenant about it, because the whole thing didn't sit right. But we had evidence, and I had orders, and—"

"I understand," Lena interrupted, "I received a formal apology from the commissioner concerning it. He and the mayor seemed concerned that I'd sue the city over it. But I only wished to put it all behind me, and I still do. Water under the bridge. It's not your fault. It's all on my mother, queen of all bi-"

Kara coughed.

"Really?" Winn whispered to her.

"Anyway, I don't blame you, Detective."

"Maggie, please."

"Maggie then."

"Well, that got heavy," Alex said, "Who wants to play some games now?"

"Please!" Winn gasped.

And so the night went. For some reason, they decided to start with Monopoly, with predictable results.

"Well, Mr. Schott," Lena said with an evil grin, "I believe that's one of my properties. And with housing on it, that will cost you."

Groans filled the room as Lena added to her impressive hoard.

"Really should have seen this coming."

"Whose bright idea was it to play this with an actual CEO?"

Winn, however, would get his revenge on the next game, a round of Mario Kart.

"Lightning!"

"Oh, come on!"

"Look at the bright side, Lena," Kara said, having sat the round out, "It least it's not a blue shell."

"What's that one do again?"

"Nukes the leader."

And throughout the night, Lena and Kara would be grilled about their relationship.

"So, I did flirt a bit in the beginning," Lena said, "But I really started to realize it was going further than that when I formally met Alex."

"How so?" Alex asked.

"Well, I walk into Kara's apartment to see another woman, one who's clearly relaxed enough that being there is a regular thing. My thoughts immediately trailed to girlfriend, and I quickly realized that I found that theory unsettling."

"You thought I was Kara's girlfriend?" Alex sputtered, pulling a face.

"Until you introduced yourself as Danvers, then I silently when 'shit, she's married!' It wasn't until Kara explained that you were sisters that I calmed down."

"That explains why your heartbeat went erratic back then," Kara said.

"You picked up on that?" Lena asked.

"Couldn't help it. My hearing was getting better, and I was standing right next to you."

"Oh, right, you mentioned improving hearing when you met with me later as Supergirl."

"Okay, I got to know," Winn interrupted, "How'd you figure it out?"

"Well, that's actually hard to explain," Lena grimaced, "It wasn't really any one thing, to be honest. It was a lot of different things that slowly added up. The fact I was falling in love with Kara only made me more attuned to her, let me pick up on things I probably wouldn't have otherwise. So I'd say that after a while, I'd put it together, but I'd never directly confirmed it. I knew she was Supergirl, but I didn't really _know it._ "

Lena then looked directly at Kara for her next words.

"But as I said before, it was really the eyes that got me. When you came for me when Lillian took me, when you said you were here to take me home, swooping in like a knight in shining armor…the look in Supergirl's eyes was so tender. I'd only really seen it in Kara's eyes. And that's when everything fell into place. Who you were and what you really meant to me."

Kara put a hand to her chest and let out a soft squeal. Then she leaned forward and pecked Lena on the lips.

"I'll always be your shining knight," she said affectionately.

"Okay, stop!" Winn winced, "That's too adorable! What you're doing should be a registered lethal weapon!"

"But I really like her," Kara sniffled, turning her puppy eyes on him.

"Ah!" he spasmed dramatically, "It burns us! It burns us!"

Lena burst out laughing, quickly followed by Maggie.

"Boy can't handle his puppy love," Maggie chuckled.

"To be fair, the puppy love is slathered in syrup," Alex grinned.

"Hey, I didn't make fun of you and Maggie!" Kara shot back.

"Yes you did! You even gave her a shovel talk when I specifically asked you not to."

"Speaking of, should I be looking out for one?" Lena asked.

"Lena, I'm a federal agent with access to alien technology," Alex deadpanned, "It should go without saying that I have multiple ways to make you disappear if you ever hurt Kara."

"And there it is."

But what fully cemented just how well Kara and Lena fit together was when Maggie convinced the group to play a little drinking game, Never Have I Ever. They would each take a turn saying what they've never done, and if another person had, they took a shot.

"I've heard of this," Lena said, "But shouldn't it be played with some form of alcohol instead of soda?"

"Well, _someone_ can't get drunk," Maggie replied, pointedly looking at Kara.

"Actually, I probably could, but it would take a proof powerful enough to kill a man," Kara deadpanned.

"Let's not test that," Winn interjected.

And so the game went, everyone enjoying a chance to playfully poke at each other, until…

"Never have I been attracted to a supervillain," Kara said, grinning at Winn.

He sighed and took a shot.

"Don't ask," he said just as Lena was opening her mouth.

Alex also took a shot, claiming that at the time, she thought it was some pheromone thing Maxima was doing.

Lena cleared her throat.

"So I'm wondering about this…

"Please don't say it was Lex," Maggie interrupted.

"Ew, no!"

"Had to ask. Your family's kind of a snake pit."

"Tell me something I don't know. So, I first realized I was gay in boarding school-"

"Was it all girls?" Maggie interrupted again.

"Yes…"

"Thought so."

"Right…so, there was this one classmate I was attracted to. I never figured out if she realized it or not. Then I found out just how trashy she was, and lost interest."

"What was her name?"

"Veronica Sinclair."

"Oh, drink up, Luthor! Roulette definitely counts!"

Lena rolled her eyes and knocked some soda back.

"Okay, detective. Never have I ever _killed someone_. And Corben doesn't count, he came back."

Maggie paused, groaned, and took a sip.

"I'd tell you, but the records were sealed due to the perp."

Alex took a sip as well, shrugging.

"Downside of the job."

And then there was a sad sigh as Kara took a long drink. When she came up for air, her eyes were haunted.

"Kara?" Lena whispered, reaching toward her.

"I don't want to talk about it," she said softly.

Lena paused, then quietly said "Okay."

"Wait, that's it?" Winn asks, "She drops that bombshell, says she doesn't want to talk about it, and you just drop it?"

"I trust her."

Winn stared at Lena, then looked over at Kara.

"Do NOT let this one go."

"I don't intend to," Kara said happily, pulling Lena into a hug.

 **oOo**

The boardwalk was covered in green, and the two women laughed together as they sat down at an outdoor café's table. Both were flush from excitement, and the brunette in the hat all but collapsed in her chair.

"Tired?"

"We've been at it for a while."

Her blonde companion hummed in reply and casually pet the stuffed corgi that had been won earlier.

"I had no idea you had such excellent aim," she said.

"Well, if you did it, it would have been cheating."

The two perused the menus for a bit before the brunette spoke up, having taken a moment to look around at the other diners.

"Kara?"

"Yes?"

She touched the fake glasses on her nose and said "These actually work."

"Told you."

"I'm having a really nice time today."

"Me too," Kara smiled, reaching across the table to grasp Lena's hand.

"Hi, I'm Holly," said the suddenly appeared waitress, "So what can I get for the lovebirds?"

Lena and Kara looked at each other and giggled.

"How'd you guess?" Kara asked.

"You remind me of my sister and her boyfriend. No one looks like that unless they're stupid in love."

Lena fought down her laughter.

"Well, you're not wrong," she said giving Kara a warm smile.

As they talked and ate, Kara had never felt so happy. On the other side of the table, Lena was having much the same thoughts.

* * *

 _Who spilled this barrel of sap? And where'd this box of plush stuffing come from?_

 _Going on another break, but we'll be back…with, uh…something far less pleasant…_


	17. Swarm

_We're back, disclaimer return:_

 _I don't own Supergirl. DC Comics owns the character, and the TV series is owned by Warner Bros and the CW. Superman and related works created by Jerry Seigel and Joe Shuster._

 _Now then…_

 _You guys are probably going to hate me for this…_

 _Hey, at least the last chapter was super fluffy, right?_

 _Right?_

* * *

 **Supergirl: Blood Ties**

Chapter 17

Swarm

Kara swore softly in Kryptonian as she yanked the pan out of the oven. It was mind-boggling. She could bake cookies, but whenever she tried anything else, she inevitably burned it.

"Oh what a lovely day off," she grumbled as she dumped the scorched remains of the small cake into the garbage.

A knock on the door startled her, and she quickly scanned the area to make sure there were no blood bags out before answering.

"Lena!" she cried with joy, yanking her girlfriend into a hug.

"Well there's a hello," Lena laughed, before sniffing the air, confused, "Is something burning?"

"My sad attempts at cake," Kara said, "It makes no sense to me, honestly. Cookies of all kinds, no issues, but whenever I use the oven for anything else, the results turn to ash."

"That…is unusual."

Kara invited Lena in, and after opening the window, they continued their conversation.

"So, what's up? I'd have thought you'd be busy this time of day."

Lena bit her lip, a worried expression on her face.

"I…well, I need a favor."

"Anything."

Lena took a second to smile at her, taking comfort in how quickly Kara had agreed without even knowing the full story. Her girlfriend was a saint, honestly.

"So, today there's this press conference for Spheerical Industries' new unveiling. Whatever they announce is going to be the next big thing everyone wants."

"Are they your competition?"

"No, not really…but…"

"But?"

"Their CEO, Jack Spheer…he and I were…we used to be close."

"Close?"

" _Close."_

" _Oh,"_ Kara croaked, her eyes wide, and then her face became one of confusion, "Wait, if you've known you were gay for years, how can you have a _male_ ex?"

"He was my beard, okay," Lena sighed, "It was a rough time for me, watching the brother I loved so much disappear before my eyes. I'd hit a low point and I was trying anything to make a change. I thought that maybe if I tried a man…regardless, it didn't work."

"Does he know that you're…"

"He will soon enough. Honestly though, I think he'd figured it out near the end, but said nothing."

"So what happened, exactly?"

"We had a start-up for five years, working on something we hoped would help treat cancer, maybe even cure it. Lot of small explosions and good times, those days."

"Lofty goal too," Kara said, "Krypton had cancer, and even with our tech, it took us a century to hammer out good treatments, another two before it was more or less dealt with. It still popped up occasionally, mind, but we had a handle on it."

"Treating cancer is a constantly evolving science," Lena nodded, "Anyway, like I said, around the time Lex was starting to spiral, I tried to date Jack to keep my mind off things. It seemed a safe option. We were already good friends, I liked him well enough. He was rather handsome, objectively, and I knew he wasn't hiding any crazy skeletons in his closet. And he was certainly good to me, don't misunderstand…but I eventually realized that I wasn't being fair, to him or me. We broke it off at the same time I was planning to move to National City."

"So this is a recent closeness?"

"And one that ended in an argument. He found out about my taking over the family business, thought I was tying myself to a toxic substance. He gave me a choice, him or Lex's legacy. But by that point I had made up my mind to turn the company into a force for good, so it wasn't really much of a choice."

Lena sighed.

"And then the other day, I received an email from him, containing a personal invite to the press conference."

"And you're going to go, I'm guessing."

"Yes, I was. But it's going to bring up a lot of painful things, and I'm not sure I could relive it."

Kara reached over and grasped Lena's hand.

"Of course I'll go with you. Moral support, of course…and if Jack's still pissy about the break-up, you can show off your new girlfriend to rub his nose in it."

Lena snorted.

"That's devious."

"One of my secret superpowers," Kara winked.

The two got up and Kara grabbed her coat and purse.

"Thanks for this, _mo chroí_ ," Lena said.

"I'll always have your back."

"You're my favorite."

"Likewise," Kara replied, pecking Lena on the cheek.

 **oOo**

Lena and Kara squeezed past a few people as they took their seats. Another person sat down in the row before them.

"Oh wow, what are the odds?" Kara asked, and the person turned.

"Isn't it supposed to be your day off, Danvers?" Snapper Carr grunted.

"I'm just here with a friend," Kara replied, and Lena gave a small wave.

"Is that what you call it?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, nothing. I just didn't realize the kind of perks that came with dating a rich girl. Makes me wonder what other things you take advantage of."

"Good deals on restaurant reservations," Lena deadpanned before turning to Kara, "I thought you were kidding, but he really can't help but be abrasive, can he?"

"Honestly, I don't think so," she answered.

Once again, Kara mused at how with all the vampire stuff weighing her down, she had much less patience for the junk other people attempted to throw on her.

"Still here, Ponytail. I'm old, not deaf."

"Then how about we at least try some calm professionalism instead of butting heads? I don't like the near-constant conflict any more than you do."

"Fine," he grunted after a moment.

Then the lights dimmed, and music started to play. A man walked out onto the stage. Kara felt Lena stiffen next to her, and put the pieces together.

"Wow, the beard has a beard," she whispered, "Not a bad looking one, either."

"Oh stop," Lena shot back, stifling a laugh.

' _Mission accomplished_ ,' Kara thought as she felt Lena relax.

They watched at Jack Spheer greeted the audience, introduced his Chief Financial Officer, Beth Breen, then sliced his hand open, the view projected on a large screen. At his nod, Beth opened the metal sphere she was holding, and a cloud issued from it.

And they watched as the cloud, revealed to be a swarm of tiny robots, knit Jack's hand back together with barely a scar.

"Oh my God, he did it," Lena whispered, shocked.

"This was the project you were working on with Jack?" Kara whispered back.

"We were so close in our research, but he finally cracked the code."

Jack smiled as he raised his unblemished hand. He paused for a moment, and Lena was sure he was staring at her, but he quickly continued, announcing the beginning of his Biomax Medical Nanobot Program, to be started in National City.

Lena's mind was awhirl. They had come to close in their research, but this was beyond what she imagined.

Kara was thinking hard too. On Krypton, they used nanites for a number of things, including treating disease. Despite the theories postulated by Earth people of the 'grey goo scenario', Kara knew that such an eventuality was not likely unless the scientists were either seriously twisted or truly sloppy. Kryptonian nanotech did not mess with molecular structures unless specifically ordered to, and any changes were at a set pace. If for some Rao-damned reason the multiple safety nets failed, the spread of rampant nanotech would be slow, and could be stopped before too much harm was done.

With all that said, she wasn't yet sure what to make of this. Krypton had spent years perfecting medical nanites, putting them through a battery of tests and making them as foolproof as possible. Only then were they released to the public, and even then under heavy control. She wasn't trying to act jaded or anything, but this seemed awful fast development and release.

As Jack began to take questions, Kara realized that she wasn't the only one who felt that way.

"Lucas Carr, Cat Co Media. I was just wondering how much testing you did on these things before slicing your hand open."

"Our trials are under privacy protection, but I assure you, they were very thorough," Jack Spheer replied, "The full details will be released soon enough, but I'd rather get through FDA trials before I let the hounds of nanotech doomsayers descend upon my work."

Kara raised her hand, and Jack pointed at her.

"Kara Danvers, sir. Bouncing off the FDA thing, do you intend to follow their regulations for distributing drugs across state lines? I ask because you started development in Metropolis, but you're aiming for distribution here."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Snapper stare at her, and she shot him a quick wink.

"Excellent question, Miss Danvers. I would never compromise the FDA's rigorous standards for safety with any of our products."

"Safety would have to be your primary concern, yes?" Snapper spoke up again, "You mentioned nanotech doomsayers a minute ago. Are you taking that seriously?"

"As serious as a heart attack. Our nanobot programming is put through multiple checks before the bots themselves are ever activated. Consider it like virus scans on your computer."

"And if all this checks out, how widespread do you expect Biomax to be?" Kara asked next.

"Ha. I seem to be getting tag-teamed," Jack chuckled, causing several audience members to laugh, "But to answer your question, it is my hope that the technology becomes quite widespread. My earlier analogies to antibiotics and anesthesia were not dramatic. I hope that Biomax provides a foundation for a new breed of medical treatments. This is the first step. If I can one day see this technology being used in cancer research, and actually give more positive results than any chemotherapy cocktail could ever dream, then I think I can die happy."

The press conference continued, more reporters asking questions. Kara leaned forward to whisper to Snapper.

"I'll send you my notes later."

"Be quick about it, I need to write this up."

 **oOo**

Kara and Lena milled about outside the auditorium, waiting.

"Are you sure about this?" Kara asked.

"If I don't make the leap now, I never will," Lena said, but Kara could tell she was a bundle of nerves.

It was actually interesting to see. Lena was usually so collected, but this was really putting her on edge.

"Lena!"

The two turned to see the approaching Jack Spheer.

"It's good to see you. I'm so glad you came."

Lena accepted the hug, despite how awkward it made her feel.

"It's good to see you too, Jack," she said, "You're doing well for yourself."

"I could say the same about you," he laughed, "I've been reading the articles."

He broke the hug, then noticed Kara standing there.

"You grilled me. You and your friend. Nice double team."

"We usually don't get along so well," Kara hummed.

"Jack, this is Kara Danvers," Lena said, wrapping her arm around Kara's shoulders, "She is one of the best reporters in National City."

"Oh, stop. You're biased."

"Little bit."

Kara snuggled closer to Lena, shooting Jack a smile that held more teeth than would be considered polite. But his grin just grew wider.

"Lena…something you care to tell me?"

Lena stiffened.

"Well," she said nervously, "You see…Kara and I…well, we're…"

"Together?" Jack offered.

Lena paled, but Jack only laughed.

"Oh, would you relax. I figured out you were gay ages ago. I just never said anything because you needed a rock in the storm, and I was willing to play that role. My only question is, does she make you happy?"

"Yes, actually," Lena replied, all the tension leaving her body at once, "More than I ever dreamed."

"Then I have nothing to complain about."

Jack pierced Kara with a look.

"You take care of this one. She's been through a lot."

"We all have scars," Kara replied.

Any further chatting was cut off by Beth Breen calling out to Jack, and he excused himself, promising to call Lena later to catch up.

On the way out, however, a man intercepted them.

"Kara Danvers?" he asked nervously.

"Do I know you?" she asked.

"I have some information for you. Meet me in the parking lot at Fourth and Main tonight. You're the only reporter I can trust."

He shifted his eyes, looking everywhere, then darted away.

Kara and Lena traded a look.

"Duty calls, I guess," Kara said.

"At least you won't be getting shot at," Lena shrugged.

Kara winced.

"And now that you've said it, something is going to go wrong."

"Oops," Lena squeaked, covering her mouth, "Sheesh, you'd think after all the experiment failures I've had, I would know how to avoid the great god Murphy."

 **oOo**

Kara darted across the parking lot, making a beeline for the single car. The man from before got out to greet her.

"You came."

"So why me?"

"You tried to warn the aliens about Cadmus. Supergirl trusts you. That's got to mean something."

"I just want to help people," she replied.

"And good on you, that means you get this story."

Kara pulled out her recorder and nodded to him.

"My name is Joe Watkins, I was a lab technician at Spheerical. I was fired last month."

"Does this have something to do with Biomax?"

"The nanobots, yes. I was archiving files on the mainframe computer, and I noticed that the results from the human trials hadn't been entered. I went to the public records, and they seemed fine-"

"Operative word being 'seemed' I'm guessing."

"Got it in one. Why aren't the same files in our archives? I think the human test trials were faked."

"Do you have evidence?"

"It's in the car."

He opened the vehicle and started to rummage through the glove box. As Kara organized her thoughts, she heard a strange whirring noise.

Suddenly, the car erupted into a fireball. Only her invulnerability and her reflexes saved her, but her coat got scorched.

She watched the car burn, her hands over her mouth. She could smell the cooked flesh in the air.

 **oOo**

A still sooty Kara stalked across the bullpen, making a beeline for James' office. He looked up, and for a moment his mouth was set in a frown before he shook his head, looking at her in shock.

"What happened to you?"

"A car exploded in my face," she said drily, "And it took a whistleblower with it. The last thing he said makes me suspicious. I need to file a FOIA with the FDA."

"What for?"

"Watkins thought that Spheerical faked the lab results. I need a look at those papers."

Suddenly, Snapper walked in, eyes on the file folder in his hand.

"I need to crash a cover. I got a lead on Spheerical and a—"

He suddenly noticed Kara standing there, and he winced.

"Yikes, what happened to you?"

"Apparently, a car exploded in her face," James said.

"Jesus, are you alright?" Snapper asked, actually looking concerned.

"I was far enough away, I'm fine," Kara replied, "It's the implications that concern me. I was meeting someone who claimed that the Biomax human trials were faked. I was just asking James to file a FOIA to follow up on that lead."

"Woah, put a pin in that. I got a lead on a guy that was supposedly a test subject for Biomax. I'm seeing him tomorrow night. You file that FOIA, suddenly Spheerical gets really nervous, really fast, and a lot of doors close. This could be major."

"Considering a potential whistleblower just _died_ , I can agree with that, but I have concerns about our timing."

"Tell you what," James said, "I'll prep the FOIA, get it ready to send. Snapper, the second you have something, I'll fire it off. Then all three of us will go over the information together, make sure this is airtight."

"Fine," Kara grumbled, "But Snapper, keep your eyes open when you meet with this guy. There's already been a death connected to his investigation, I'd rather avoid more."

"Your concern is touching," Snapper deadpanned, "But I've been a news hound for most of my life. This is hardly going to be the first time I've been shot at."

Kara resolved to tail him tomorrow night regardless.

 **oOo**

"Alright, let's talk," Snapper said, bringing out his notepad, "How much do you know about Biomax?"

"Not much," the man said, pacing slightly across his apartment.

"They paid you to participate in the human trials, did you actually participate?"

"Technically."

Snapper gave him a look.

"Technically?"

"I came in and signed a form, but that was it. No tests, no nothing. If there were, I wasn't a part of them. And if I was control group or something they'd tell me afterward, right?"

"Relax, you're fine."

Snapper tried to hide behind gruffness, but inside, he was growing steadily more concerned. First Danvers nearly gets blown up talking with a whistleblower, and now this? Spheerical was running a game of dirty pool, that was for sure. He was actually looking forward to the results of the FOIA and seeing more pieces of the puzzle.

"Have they tried to contact you since-"

"The hell?"

Snapper's head whipped up, and he saw what the man was freaking out about. Flowing from the heating vent like a cloud of smoke was a shining cloud. It shifted in the air and made a hissing noise.

Behind him, Snapper heard the window break, and he was shoved to the ground. He heard screams from his contact, screams with quickly tapered off.

When he looked up, he saw dust that was once a man hit the floor, and Supergirl standing between him and the cloud.

The cloud surged forward, but Supergirl blew out a cloud of super-cold air. The cloud stiffened and stopped, covered in ice. He thought he saw a similar mist coming from her hands, but he chalked that up to shock. She spared a moment to look at the metallic popsicle before grabbing him and zooming out the window.

"The hell was that?" Snapper shouted, finally getting his voice back.

"You ever read those sci fi stories about nanotech going nuts? The grey goo scenario? I think it was that."

"What do you mean?"

"I took a quick look with my microscopic vision between freezing the cloud and grabbing you. It was a bunch of tiny robots."

Snapper paused, and then swore.

"My sentiment exactly," Supergirl replied.

"Where are we going now?"

"I'm dropping you off back at Cat Co," she said, "Get as much distance between us and that swarm as possible. I don't know how long that ice will hold, considering it all but disintegrated a man."

"Point. Did Danvers put you on my trail?"

"She might not like you very much, but she doesn't want you _dead_."

Snapper fell silent, letting the cool night air play across his face.

It was one of _those_ stories. When all this was over, he was going to down quite a bit of his favorite scotch.

 **oOo**

Kara tried to keep her speed to human levels as she made a beeline for the restaurant. After seeing to Snapper, she had tried to call Lena, hoping for some insight into Spheer and the nanotech, but her girlfriend wasn't answering her phone. Calling her office instead had Kara reach an apologetic Jess.

" _Jack Spheer showed up, invited her to dinner. She seemed kind of reluctant, but he pulled the 'old friend catching up' card._ "

Thankfully, Jess knew of the restaurant in question, which led Kara to now.

She stood outside the restaurant, looking in. She easily spotted Lena and Jack, and she perked her hearing up.

"So, a few months after you left," Jack was saying, "I pulled an all-nighter, trying to make the program work. Before I knew it, the sun was coming up. As I look out the window and wonder how I'm going to pull this off without you, I see this flock of starlings flying by. They were all moving in perfect sync. When one turned, all the others turned. Just as I was thinking that I made a mistake, that I should have gone with you, I had another epiphany."

"What?"

"I was modeling the nano-swarm on the wrong kind of animal. See, bees need a base, a queen, to revolve around. We'd been trying to make a nanobot into a queen via a protective algorithm, but-"

"Oh my God, murmuration!" Lena gasped, things falling into place, "It migrates, linked AI sentience."

Jack snapped his fingers and pointed at Lena.

"And it's all controlled through the Spheerical lab mainframe, little extra stability that way. And I never would have gotten there if I hadn't been thinking about you."

Lena's excitement waned.

"Jack—"

"I know what you're going to say, I do," he said, "I enjoyed our relationship too. But trying to be something you weren't was starting to strain, I could tell, and I won't let you do that to yourself again. I'm actually glad you found someone. You deserve it."

"She knows about my past, my family, and she doesn't care," Lena breathed, "I am blessed to have her in my life."

Jack smiled and picked up his glass.

"And I feel blessed to be your friend. To our friendship, and to finding our other halves."

Lena smiled and accepted the toast, the glasses clinking together. Outside, Kara smiled a bit. Jack was important to Lena, and the fact that he accepted them so readily was doing wonders for her girlfriend. She actually hoped that Jack wasn't the ultimate cause of the nanotech madness.

Lena took a sip of her wine, then froze. Her eyes locked with Kara's.

"Will you excuse me a minute Jack?" Lena asked, "I need to go powder my nose."

Jack nodded, and Lena made a beeline to the bathroom, looking back briefly to see that Kara had vanished.

' _She heard, great_ ,' Lena thought, _'Now what's this about?'_

Entering the bathroom, she took a quick look around, making sure it was empty, before calling Kara's name. She immediately felt foolish. The bathroom had a single tiny window set up high, and super-speeding through the restaurant would be difficult. How was Kara going to—

"Eep!"

"That's an interesting noise," Kara said, some last bits of mist sloughing off her form, "And I love your dress, by the way. You look lovely."

"How did…since when can you-"

"I'll explain later, we don't have much time," Kara interrupted, and gave Lena an abridged version of events.

Lena grasped a sink to steady herself, a nauseous feeling washing over her.

"But…why?"

"That's what I need to find out," Kara said, "I can sneak into Spheerical's building the same way I got in here, but I need a security keycard to access the good stuff. And the only one guaranteed to give me everything I need-"

"Is Jack's. Does he have it on him?"

Kara tilted her glasses down and peered off into the distance.

"Yes. I thought he might. Left inside pocket of his jacket."

"All right, I'll make a diversion and try to pinch it. Then I'll toss it into a corner and you can blur it out."

"Can you really pick his pocket?"

"Lex Luthor was my brother, and one of the family bodyguards was an ex-Navy Seal," Lena scoffed, "Of course I know how to pickpocket."

"Alright, I'll wait for your signal. Be careful."

They gave each other a brief hug before Lena left the bathroom and headed back to the table, a plan already forming.

She was only a foot away from the table when the stumbled. She flailed her arms and fell right into Jack.

"Lena!"

"I'm fine, I'm fine. I must have hit a run in the carpet or something. Are you okay?"

"I'm good," Jack replied, helping disentangle Lena from himself.

He hadn't noticed Lena slip a hand into his jacket, and as he turned to assuage a waiter that everything was okay, Lena tossed the card away. A slight breeze blew through the restaurant. When Lena looked back toward where she tossed the card, it had vanished.

"Nice," she whispered.

Outside, Kara walked nonchalantly down the street, spinning the keycard in her fingers.

"Barry, eat your heart out."

 **oOo**

A thin trail of mist creeped through the window, darting up toward a security camera. The device fritzed and died, and the mist fell back to the ground, reforming into Kara.

"So glad that 'invitation needed' thing is just a tall tale," she whispered, before looking around.

Jack Spheer's office was pretty spartan, but then, Spheerical had only recently opened up offices in National City. She slipped over to the computer on the desk, and saw a device connected to it. She inserted the card, and the computer came to life, the words 'Welcome Jack' displaying across the screen.

As Kara waited for everything to settle, she was internally fuming. Two deaths, that she knew of, and she couldn't stop it. She was barely able to stop the swarm herself, forced to add some ice magic to her cold breath, a branch she was unpracticed in. The swarm was strong enough to take apart a normal man, what could it do to Kryptonian flesh?

She wasn't sure she wanted to find out. She needed to nip this in the bud, figure out who was using the swarm to cover all this up and shut them down before they could get at a computer. If she didn't, the fight would get a lot harder.

Noticing that the computer had fully booted up, she started to go through the files, finally finding the Biomax file, and going for the folder marked 'Trials'. Two other folders were inside, 'Human Trials' and 'Self Trials'. The last one gave her an uneasy feeling, so she went for the first one.

It was empty.

She swore softly in Kryptonian as she dug a flash drive out of her pocket and set to copying the entire Trials folder. While waiting, she looked at the other file folder.

"I'm probably going to regret this," she said as she opened the Self Trials folder.

Inside was a video file, which she played.

As she watched, the bottom fell out of her stomach.

" _Biomax version 38. Human trial one."_

Jack Spheer injected himself with something, and after a moment, his body blurred, turning into a shining cloud in the shape of a man before reforming into a recognizable human.

But even as she watched this, even as she realized that the human trials were indeed faked and Biomax was dangerous, one thought was predominant in her mind.

"Oh, Lena…this is going to destroy her."

 **oOo**

Kara wasn't wrong.

Lena sat on her office couch, her head in her hands. Kara sat down next to her and wrapped an arm around her girlfriend.

"I'm sorry…but you deserve to know."

They sat there for a while, Lena silently weeping. Finally, she took a deep breath and looked up at Kara, her eyes wet.

"Who knows about this?"

"Just us."

"I won't ask you to bury it," Lena said, taking a deep breath, "But let me talk to Jack before this gets out. Maybe—"

"Maybe nothing," Kara interrupted, eyes hard, "You are not going near him. Lena, he's killed two people. I know you two have history, but you _will_ be the third if you confront him. I don't know what I'd do if that happened. And I don't know how I can stop him."

Lena looked away.

"Just promise me you'll stay away from him for now. Please."

Lena took a deep breath and nodded.

"Alright. For you."

As Kara left, however, she couldn't shake the feeling that Lena might have been lying. Her heart had been off, but surely that was just because she'd been upset. Right?

 **oOo**

Snapper slumped back heavily in his chair. He opened a drawer and withdrew a metal flask. He took a swig before offering it to Kara, who shook her head.

"I'm not even sure that's allowed in the building," she added.

"We all need something to take the edge off when things get crazy dark," he grunted, putting the flask away, "Where did you even get this?"

"I gorged on some donuts before coming here, I'm good. And do you really want me to answer that?"

Snapper looked at the resolute Kara before quietly admitting to himself that he probably didn't.

"Has anyone else seen this?" he asked, tapping Kara's phone where it lay on the desk.

"Just Lena. She and Jack were friends, I felt she deserved to know. And I wanted to warn her to stay away from him until this was resolved."

"Not ideal, but I guess I can't fault you," Snapper sighed.

"So where are we at? Biomax human trials were faked, and they're covering it up with extreme force-"

"I'm a witness to that. Here's the funny thing. I don't think Spheer is alone in this. The info from the FOIA pulled this gem up: Beth Breen signed the checks."

"She's Spheerical's chief financial officer, so what?"

"SO, she's got a lot of money riding on the success of these nanobots. Biomax fails, she stands to lose everything."

"You think that's a strong enough motive?"

"I've seen people do more for less."

"She's at least complicit in _murder_ , what more is—"

And then Kara felt it. A horrible feeling washed over her. She staggered a bit.

"Danvers?"

Snapper's voice sounded like it came from far away, because all Kara could hear was a beating heart.

One she was always partially aware of now.

"Oh no," she whispered.

And without another word, she raced out of the office, ignoring Snapper's questioning shout and the cries of the people she rushed past. As soon as she hit the stairwell, she super-sped to the roof. The second she hit daylight, she started to shed clothes. All the while, her brain screamed one word.

 _LENA._

 **oOo**

Lena felt sick. She hadn't felt this sick since she found out about Lex murdering people.

This was her friend. Someone who was once one of the most important people in her life. And now it looked like he was a monster. Was it her? Was she just cursed to be around people who had dangerous darker sides?

She swiftly walked across the laboratory of Spheerical Industries, making a beeline towards the only person in the large room.

"Jack."

Jack Spheer turned away from his microscope.

"Lena," he said happily, but then noticed the look on her face, "Is something wrong?"

He looked confused, and Lena tried not to be thrown by his stare.

"You lied to me," she said harshly, "Biomax. I saw the video, Jack. You shot those things into yourself. You faked the human trials, you…"

Lean paused for a moment, feeling her heart break a little, but she swallowed her anxieties and continued.

"You killed people. Why? How could you?"

Jack flinched back as if struck.

"You knew—WE knew, all that time ago," Lena continued, "The nano-swarms had a side effect. The rats' brain chemistry was forever altered. They had no control, we could make them do whatever we wanted. We practically had them under mind control. You did this to yourself!"

And all of the sudden, the similarities to confronting Lex ground to a halt with eight little words.

"Lena, I don't know what you're talking about!" Jack all but shouted.

She searched his face, but found nothing but confusion.

And then something else became clear. The side effect of the swarm. _Mind control._

"Oh my God, it's not you. You're just the puppet."

"Wha-"

And then there was a slight buzz, and Jack suddenly became stone-faced and still.

Lena heard her name called, and she turned to see a new person approaching.

"I'm afraid he can't hear you anymore," Beth Breen said smugly, "No one can."

All the pieces fell into place.

"Those people trying to blow the whistle on how dangerous Biomax was," Lena said, "You killed them. And you used Jack to do it."

"Correct. Of course, he doesn't remember that," Beth replied, "Thanks to his own brainchild."

She tapped at the glowing earpiece she wore, which Lena suddenly remembered her wearing during the press conference.

"Control device?" Lena asked, tapping at her own ear.

Beth grinned.

"And you took control of him for what, exactly?"

"The poor sweet boy wanted to scrap the whole project initially, all due to a pesky little side effect that removed free will. Not financially responsible. Luckily, I was there to step in. You know, it's true what they say. Behind every great man is a strong woman."

"Oh, I wouldn't know," Lena replied, "I've never stood behind a man."

"No, you just clean up after your brother," Beth shot back, "And in doing so, you walked away from the breakthrough of the century. You're an idiot."

"And you're everything that's wrong with big business. All about profit and power, and to hell with anyone that gets in your way, or anyone you have to step on to get there. You'd let the world burn just to advance your agenda. And they say banks can get underhanded. Let me guess, you intend to keep hiding the danger of Biomax, all the way to the market. Then, you'll use the mind control side effect to, what, take over the world?"

"Wow, that's not bad," Beth said, but her tone was mocking, "You must have picked up a few things from being a supervillain's sister."

"At least I have an excuse when I inadvertently sound like one. You're just repulsive."

"I like to think of myself as a realist."

"And now I suppose you're going to kill me to protect this secret?"

Beth just smiled. It was not a nice smile.

"Again, not very financially responsible."

She tapped the side of the earpiece, and Jack began to walk robotically over to a table and pick up an injection gun.

"I already control Jack. Why kill you when I can control you, and by extension, L-Corp? Think of that merger."

Jack began to walk forward, raising the gun. Lena backed away, her heart racing.

"Okay, Jacky, put that down, all right? Jack, listen, I know you're in there somewhere. You listen to me-"

"He can't hear you," Beth said, "It's far too late, for both of you."

"Jack, please…"

Beth couldn't help but chuckle at the fear in Lena's voice. Lena, meanwhile, was cursing herself for not listening to Kara.

A blur crashed through the window and pulled Lena away.

' _Speak of the devil_ ,' Lena thought as her girlfriend looked her over.

"I heart your heart race. Are you okay? They didn't hurt you?"

"I'm fine, he's not," Lena replied, pointing at Jack, "The swarm took over his mind, he's not in control. I need to get at the controller. Can you keep him occupied?"

"Easy," Supergirl replied.

A glittering cloud poured off Jack, a large part of the swarm breaking off and coming at them. Supergirl led it away, weaving about the rafters. The cloud surged behind her, the mass of metal making a chittering sound as it flew.

Lena rushed toward Beth, who kicked her in the stomach.

"Did I mention I'm a black belt?" she smirked before aiming another kick at Lena.

But Lena caught the foot, twisting it and hitting the knee. Beth screamed in pain, and Lena lunged forward, grabbed her arm, and flipped her. Still holding the arm, she twisted the wrist and relished the scream of pain.

"Did I mention that I was a Luthor?" Lena shot back, before punching her in the head hard enough to send the earpiece flying out.

Meanwhile, Supergirl spun around suddenly, breathing out a stream of ice breath. But the swarm had learned, and split into two, going around and striking at her. She swiftly found herself pinned to one of the support beams. The mass bound her tightly, removing any leverage she could have had. Before she could even think about a lightning pulse to shock the swarm, she felt pain.

Lena jerked her head toward the sound of the scream, and saw her girlfriend pinned. She immediately realized that the swarm was attacking her on a cellular level, and while Kryptonian flesh was powerful, even it wouldn't last long. She stomped on the earpiece, hoping the shock would break up the swarm.

She was half right. Jack sprang back to life with a gasp, but his form flickered between fleshy and metallic.

"Lena…AH!"

He staggered, grunting and yelling in pain.

"The swarm…GAH! Lena, the…ugh…the mainframe! Shut it…AH! Shut it down!"

Lena raced over to the computer on the table, rapidly typing and spurred on by the cries of her beloved and her best friend.

"Nearly there, nearly there…"

"Hurry," Jack groaned.

Beth suddenly spoke up, her voice laden with pain.

"You do that, you'll kill him. That override destroys the nanobots, and he's merged with them. You kill them, you kill him."

This made Lena pause for a second, but Jack's scream cut off her train of thought.

"I remember now…what I did…Lena, I won't be a monster! End this now! Please…"

Lena resumed typing, trying to drown out the voice in her head trying to plead for Jack's life. There wasn't time. There just wasn't time. And Kara was in trouble. Kara, her heart, was going to die if she didn't—

A scream turned into a growl, a high-pitched snarl that sent a shiver down her spine.

She looked toward the source and was stunned at what she saw.

Glowing red eyes. Fangs. The love of her life thrashing and snarling like a feral wolf.

"Well I'll be damned," Beth was saying, a laugh on her voice, "This happened to my ex-husband. I never thought it would happen to the mighty Supergirl. Might as well let the swarm kill her, Lena! Nothing good comes from letting a vampire live."

Lena was stunned almost still. But the command was done, and her finger hit 'Enter' almost by instinct.

The computer voiced a system override. The nanobots exploded off of Supergirl and Jack before falling to the ground like dust. Supergirl hit the ground, still growling, but those growls subsided as she pulled herself together.

After a minute, she looked up and saw Lena knelt over the fallen Jack. She heard him whisper thanks before going still.

Supergirl began to walk over to them, only to be cut off by Beth's voice.

"Oh look, it's alive. Too bad. No snacks for you here, vampire! You're not killing me for my blood! I've got a cross and I'm not-"

"Will you shut up!" Supergirl groaned, firing a low-power lightning bolt at the woman. She hit the ground twitching.

Kara stood behind Lena, listening to her sobs.

"Lena…I'm sorr-"

"Is she wrong?" Lena asks, her eyes still on Jack.

"Lena…"

"How long have you been keeping this from me? How long have you been-"

"Lena, listen to me. You-"

"HOW LONG?"

Kara was shocked into silence. Lena hadn't even turned around, but Kara could just see the tears in her eyes.

"And is Breen right? Have you killed people, just for their blood? Have you?"

"Yes," Kara said in a tiny voice.

"And have you ever thought about my blood? Have you ever wanted to bite me?"

"Once or twice. But Lena, I would never-"

"But you've thought about it, haven't you?"

The tone of Lena's voice was cold. Colder than Kara had ever heard.

"Lena, please," Kara said, tears starting to run down her face, "Please, let me just-"

"Just go," Lena said, "I can't even look at you right now."

Kara felt something in her chest shrivel and die, but she complied. She turned to mist and slipped away.

 **oOo**

The article about Biomax painted a tragedy. A man trying to make something good, only for someone he trusted to stab him in the back, twisting his creation into something monstrous. Beth Breen had been arrested for fraud and two cases of murder, and there were people calling for Jack's death to be called a third.

Lena Luthor was one of those people, but Kara only knew this from other sources. She hadn't spoken to Lena since that night. Her calls had gone unanswered, and she had been barred from L-Corp.

Jess had actually come down and informed Kara of that personally, and she seemed very sorry about it. Kara had assured her that she wasn't the type to shoot the messenger, but when asked, Jess stated that she had no idea why the sudden change in policy.

Kara, however, had a pretty good idea.

Four days after Jack's death, Kara finally received a text from Lena.

 _I have things to think about. Please don't bother me in the meantime._

It seemed innocuous. Anyone else would have chalked it up to business, or mourning for her fallen friend.

But Kara could read between the lines well enough.

Not even a few minutes after receiving the text, she had flown out to the middle of the ocean.

She floated there in the air for a minute. Images of Lena flowed through her mind, ending with her hunched over and asking her to leave.

A scream ripped itself from her throat. The ocean rocked from the force of her voice. Heat lanced from her eyes and shot into the sky, tears evaporating just as they were forming.

She relished the burning pain of the raw energy searing her eyes, because everything else felt so numb.

Kara felt cold…

 **oOo**

Lena sat at her desk, but her eyes weren't on her paperwork. They were on her phone as she scrolled through an album of her and Kara.

Movie nights, that time on the boardwalk, getting Kara to try kale and laughing at her dramatic reaction, and plenty more.

So much happiness, more than she had ever felt before…

The image of fangs burst into her mind.

She put her phone down and put her head in her hands.

Lena didn't really believe in God…but right now, she really wished she did, so she could pray for her pain to go away.

Lena felt cold…

* * *

 _(A sign sits on the chair)_

Gone to hide in my bunker.

I am SO sorry…


	18. Hurt and Desperation

_(Peeks into view)_

 _Umm, hi?_

 _(Ducks to avoid gunshot)_

 _WILL YOU PUT THAT AWAY AND LET ME EXPLAIN MYSELF?_

 _I spent the past weak with a cough and a fever that wouldn't go away, so I'm not in the mood…_

 _Look people, do you honestly think there wouldn't be angst for the vampirism reveal? It's been hanging over this story since the beginning, and over Kara and Lena's relationship for several chapters now. It was_ always _going to be rough._

 _And I'm sorry to say, Kara's not done being put through the ringer yet._

 _Show of hands, who else got repeatedly punched in the gut while watching 'Alex'?_

 _Yeah, this is probably going to be worse…_

* * *

 **Supergirl: Blood Ties**

Chapter 18

Hurt and Desperation

 _I hurt myself today  
To see if I still feel  
I focus on the pain  
The only thing that's real_

 _The needle tears a hole  
The old familiar sting  
Try to kill it all away  
But I remember everything_

 _What have I become  
My sweetest friend  
Everyone I know goes away  
In the end_

Kara let the sound of Johnny Cash pour from her earbuds and wash over her as she slowly walked across the room to collect her order.

The barista winced as she took Kara in.

"Damn, Danvers. You look like hell."

"I feel it," Kara muttered.

She paid for her coffee and bagel silently, and made towards the door. She took a bite of her treat and choked, suddenly feeling like her mouth had been set on fire. She spit out her bite and took a second look at the bagel.

Garlic.

She really was out of it if she had missed that. She was usually so careful.

As she went back to the counter to complain about the mistake in her order, a part of her mind argued that she really should have expected this sort of thing.

Kara had been spending the past week in a daze. When she wasn't working extra-hard to outrun her grief, she was sleepwalking through her life. Her heart ached, and in her quieter moments, she could feel the press of depression on her. Nights were the worst, when there was nothing to distract her.

But even worse than the nights was the sound. She could still hear it. She was always partially aware of it, had been for some time now.

Lena's heartbeat. Once a source of comfort, now a painful reminder.

She sighed as she walked out of the building. She briefly looked up at the skies. They were grey and dreary.

"Fitting," she muttered.

 **oOo**

Kara tried to plaster on a smile. She didn't want her funk to ruin this dinner with Alex and Maggie.

They noticed anyway. Even if she didn't eat as much as she used to, she was still picking at her food.

Maggie suddenly put down her glass, making sure to make a sound as it hit the table.

"Okay, I've danced around this for a bit, but I have to say something."

"Maggie-"

"No, Alex, let her talk," Kara said.

Maggie looked Kara straight in the eye and said "You can't keep this up. You're becoming excessive, and people are noticing. It hasn't just been lately, but it's been cropping up a lot in the past week. You barely look before you leap anymore."

Kara barely reacted to Maggie's words, so she kept going.

"You know, there's this thing some criminals are using now to get charges dropped. It's called the Supergirl Defense. Perfect storm for a defense attorney: excessive force, evidence contaminated by debris, vigilante justice, all that. Take tonight for example. Sure, you caught the guys and saved the hostages. But you also broke one guy's arm, gave the other a concussion, and left a hole in the roof of a National City landmark. And it's getting worse. Yesterday you put out that fire, but you blitzed right though it and didn't even stop to talk to the firefighters or the rescued people like you usually do. You keep this up, and people are going to start to wonder what's been going on with you."

Kara just looked at her, took a sip of her water, and then spoke.

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize this was becoming an issue. I'll try to be better."

She took another bite of her food, then excused herself. She thanked Alex for the meal, and quietly left.

Alex put her head in her hands and sighed.

"It needed to be said, Danvers," Maggie said, "If it wasn't me, it'd be Winn or J'onn or Shanoa."

"And I'm not arguing that, I'm arguing your tone."

"I get that she's upset about Lena, but she's not going to get better if every keep treating her with kid gloves."

"And if it were me, would Kara be saying the same thing to you?"

That gave Maggie pause. Alex got up and went for her coat and shoes.

"I'm not telling you to stop, I'm just telling you to try and be a little softer when you do it. For me?"

"For you," Maggie sighed, "Now where are you going?"

"To tell Kara to try too. She's stubborn, so this little bit of peacekeeping might take a while. Don't wait up, okay?"

Maggie bid Alex good-bye.

Then she got a strange feeling of foreboding, but she shook it off. She was just going to talk to her sister. What could happen?

 **oOo**

Kara typed away at her desk, putting the finishing touches on an article. She heard a knock on her office door, and without looking, called out for whoever it was to come in.

The door opened and shut, but Kara kept typing. She finally finished with a harsh breath, and looked up to see Maggie.

"I'm sorry," Maggie said before Kara could speak, "I was out of line, last night. I shouldn't have even brought up that Supergirl Defense thing, that was a low blow. I—"

"Maggie," Kara interrupted, "I get it. I've been thinking about the past week, and it has been messing with me. I've been practically sleepwalking since…since…"

Kara took a shuddering breath.

"She really was special to you, wasn't she?" Maggie said.

"Lena was…Maggie, she was IT. And now I've lost her."

Maggie sighs.

"Yeah, I hear you. I don't know what I'd do if I lost Alex…speaking of, have you heard from her at all today?"

"Didn't you crash at her place last night?" Kara asked, confused.

"I did, but she ran after you to play peacekeeper. I thought she stayed at your place."

"No…she never came to me about any peacekeeping. Have you checked the DEO?"

"Winn said she didn't check in last night, or this morning."

Kara's phone suddenly rang.

"Oh look, mystery solved," Kara said, holding it up to show Alex's name on the screen.

She put the phone on speaker.

"Alex, I'm here with Maggie. We were both worried."

" _Best keep worrying, then."_

Both women stiffened. That wasn't Alex's voice.

"Who is this?" Maggie growled, the situation making her metaphorical hackles rise.

" _My name's not important right now. I know your secret, Kara Danvers. And I know where to hurt you."_

Kara's phone pinged again, a text message. She opened it, and a picture appeared of an unconscious Alex.

" _As you can see, I have your sister. My needs are simple. A man named Peter Thompson is serving a life sentence at Albatross Bay Supermax. You will free him within the next thirty-six hours, or Alex Danvers will die. And don't go looking for her. I've hid her well. Even you won't find her in time,_ Supergirl _."_

Both Kara and Maggie felt their blood run cold.

 **oOo**

The main room of the DEO was silent as Kara told the story. Maggie could feel the concern pouring off everyone. She felt a bit of comfort in this fact, that these people were genuinely worried and would do anything to bring Alex home. While she was struggling to stay calm, she found some relief in that fact, and figured that Kara would too if she were to realize it. As it stood, however, Kara was still too freaked out. She paced, she made wild gestures, her eyes flickered between blue and red, and her fangs hadn't been sheathed since they arrived.

"I'm guessing that we can't just get this Thompson released, yes?" Shanoa asked.

"The DEO does not negotiate with terrorists," J'onn said strongly, "We cave once, we open the floodgates. Every bad guy will know Supergirl can be controlled."

"Relax. Someone had to play devil's advocate, I wasn't actually serious. And Alex is his insurance at this point, there's no way he's going to be straight while he controls her life. Kara, can you locate Alex's heartbeat?"

"I've been trying!" Kara snapped, "That's part of what's freaking me out so much. Wherever this lunatic has Alex stashed, it's soundproofed to hell and back, even from my hearing."

"All right, calm down a little," Shanoa replied, raising her hands defensively, "What of the usual tracking methods?"

"Alex's subdermal tracker has been offline since 10:00 last night," Winn spoke up from his station, "Whoever took her must have found some way to power it down."

"When this is over, maybe look at how to prevent that from happening again," Maggie said.

"It's on the list. And before you ask about triangulating the phone call, that's a dead end too. The caller used four different arrays to scramble the signal."

Mutters spread from the crowd, the worried air growing heavier. Kara visibly slumped.

"Alright, I have an idea," Shanoa spoke up, "Can I get a personal object of Alex's? A hairbrush, a piece of clothing, something?"

Kara was gone in a blur, and a moment later came back with a jacket.

"Raided her locker. Will this work?"

"We'll find out."

Shanoa took the jacket and placed it on the table. She began to mutter, and a circular glyph appeared around the jacket. After a minute of glows and chanting, the spell fizzled out with a tone like squelching mud. Shanoa cursed in Irish as she caught her breath.

"This man did his homework," she muttered, "Wherever Alex is being kept is being blocked from magical detection."

"That's insane," Kara said.

"Not really. There are several ways to accomplish this. Nth metal would be easy, and it would have the added bonus of reinforcing a cell. He wouldn't even need that much. Perhaps if I was tracking Alex via her blood I could force the spell through, but that would take time, which is in short supply."

"And we don't have a blood sample for Alex, do we?" asked Winn, looking pointedly at Kara.

"Any blood I get from Alex comes from the source," Kara replied, "She donated hers into the 'Feed Kara' bank like the rest of the DEO at first, but after she started baring her neck every other week, she stopped adding her blood to the bank."

"Didn't want to over-draw," J'onn added.

"Fair," Maggie said, but her tone was negative, "Okay, is Peter Thompson connected with something big? Like Cadmus, for example?"

"I checked, nada," Winn said.

"Then we're asking the wrong questions. We don't know where Alex was taken, we don't have a crime scene, we don't have physical evidence. Shanoa's got a point, this guy's been planning this for a while. He's a ghost who doesn't want to be found."

"Then what's the right question?" Kara asked, her face and voice a mix of fear and frustration.

"Who is Peter Thompson, and what does he mean to our ghost?"

A moment's silence echoed, and then everyone rushed off, trying to find the trail of breadcrumbs. Winn gathered a bunch of analysts together to help search. Shanoa left, saying she needed to make a call. J'onn took charge, only flickers of desperation on his face, the rest buried under determination and focus. Kara and Maggie were left alone for the moment.

"Are you scared?" Maggie asked.

"Terrified," Kara whispered.

Maggie brought Kara into a hug.

"Me too."

The hypothetical loss that Alex had raised last night was now reality, and Maggie was left wishing it had stayed hypothetical.

 **oOo**

It would take a while, but more information was dug up on Peter Thompson. His record showed three home invasions, two DUIs, and two counts of felony murder. J'onn had gone to see him, but it was a dead end. Thompson was flippant, but he was genuinely surprised that someone wanted him out of jail. He had no idea what it was all about.

Finally, Winn found something. Thompson's visitor log had a name that kept popping up. It was a fake name, but Winn was able to cross-reference the visits with security footage, run facial recognition, and finally get a hit.

As it turned out, Thompson had an illegitimate son. The records were sparse, but the man in question knew Thompson, having spoken at his sentencing.

Kara was actually stunned for a moment at the news. The man's name was Rick Malverne, and he had grown up in Midvale, just like her and Alex.

She thought back, and finally remembered. He was a quiet kid, and she wouldn't have called him a friend, but he was always pleasant with her. He had tried to woo Alex for a little while, carried her books and everything, only to get nowhere like many others.

The questions of why haunted Kara as she jetted toward the house he had outside National City.

She burst into the house, calling for her sister, but found only a computer terminal. All four screens showed different angles on a cell. Pacing around it and clearly trying to think of an escape plan was Alex. Kara rushed over, hoping against hope that there was a microphone on the computer.

She was interrupted by a smug voice.

"She can't hear you, Kara."

She turned and saw him. He hadn't changed much, still recognizable as the young man she knew. But the eyes were a different story. They were cold as ice.

"I haven't seen you since graduation. You look good."

Kara didn't spare a second, grabbing him by his shirt front and lifting him into the air.

"Where is my sister?" she growled, her eyes aglow and her fangs just about to pop out.

"That'd probably be a lot scarier with the fangs."

Kara nearly dropped him.

"Surprised? Vampires don't hide as well as they think. I imagine I'm not the only one who could make the connections."

That thought chilled Kara to the bone, but she kept herself together.

"I asked you a question. Where is Alex?"

"Let's answer your question with another question. My father out of prison yet?"

"You know I can't do that."

"Can't or won't?"

Kara's eyes flared an even brighter red, and her fangs finally made themselves known.

"Let's answer _your_ question with another question. _Can I_ get a straight answer from you, or _will I_ have to beat you until you give me one?"

Malverne had the gall to laugh.

"We both know you won't. You were always the nice one."

"I've done a lot of things I never thought I'd do in the past several months."

"But you won't do this. Not while your sister's life hangs in the balance."

Kara growled loudly and brought his face closer to hers.

"So brave. Let's see how that stands up against two vampires and an angry psychic."

 **oOo**

As it turned out, better than expected.

"Why can't I read your mind?" J'onn growled.

Malverne just sat in the chair, smile on his face. To look at him, one would think he was enjoying the beach, instead of handcuffed in a metal room staring down a person that even Superman was wary of angering.

"My little secret. I've been planning this for a while, figuring out your weaknesses and how to exploit them, how to block vampire magic and protect my own mind. And I told you how this game works. My father for Alex."

"Your father is a murderer," Kara spat from her corner of the room.

"Manslaughter-er."

"Not according to the records," J'onn shot back, "Now where is Alex?"

"Tick tock, tick tock," he mocked.

Kara lunged forward, lightning crackling around her hands, only to be restrained by J'onn, barely.

"Okay, that's pretty cool. You know, you hurt me, you'll never find her. And she'll die. Slowly."

That forced Kara back, but she continued to try and murder Malverne with her eyes.

"You know, you're a bit more violent than I remember."

"You hurt someone I care deeply about," Kara hissed, "You think I wouldn't do anything for her?"

"I know the feeling," Malverne said, "You know, I've known there was something special about you for a while now. You remember that day at the beach? You saved a woman and her baby, and then a car exploded. People say it was adrenaline that you walked away without a scratch, but I thought different. I saw Kara Danvers do something amazing. Then you moved to National City, and a while later, Supergirl showed up in National City, and…well…wasn't hard to put the pieces together, so long as you look at the puzzle in a unique way."

"I'm aware," Kara said, her mind suddenly flashing to Lena. Her heart stopped for a second, aching.

"But back to my original point. I didn't have the nice house or the perfect family you and your sister had-"

"You think we had it easy? You have no idea what Alex sacrificed for me. What she keeps doing for me! I was-"

"What, hiding superpowers? I was hiding bruises!" Malverne shouted, "Do you know what it's like having your mother tell you you're garbage every single night? A belt for a wrong opinion? And then a found a lifeline. A dad that my mom kept from me. And he saved me from her, and he moved me away from Midvale. And even though he was always struggling, he always made sure there was food on the table, and he got me enough money to go to college. And then three years ago, the state took him away from me! I don't care what they say, those two people had it coming. And now I'm going to rescue him like he rescued me. Now either you free my dad, or your sister dies. You get to experience a little bit of the pain that I felt all those years ago."

"You think I don't know pain?" Kara whispered, and the tone made J'onn back up a little.

It was the same tone he had heard during the 'Lena was framed' incident.

"Oh, we're back to this, are we?" Malverne scoffed, "I spent years under the thumb of someone who hated me. What do you have? I mean, you're Supergirl! The people love you! You've got great parents, a great sister. You've got friends out the wazoo. All I had was my dad. What do you even know about l-"

The table collapsed under her fists as she brought them down. Her fangs were back out, her eyes were twin pits of hellfire. Lightning spurted off her form, making the lights flicker and casting shadows across her face.

" _I LOST AN ENTIRE FUCKING PLANET!"_ she roared, the force blowing Malverne back a few inches, " _The people, the culture. My friends, my family. I've lost the red sunsets and the art. The crystal towers and the wide-open country. Our history, our stories, our food, OUR GOD! My father's voice and my aunt's embrace only exist in my memories. I can only see my mother's smile in my dreams. It's all gone, DEAD! Debris and ashes surrounding a lonely star. THAT'S all I have of Krypton. My inheritance is dust. I am all that's left, the only one left alive to remember. And if it weren't for Alex, there would be no memories, BECAUSE I WOULD HAVE KILLED MYSELF YEARS AGO!_ "

The lightning and shadows receded, but the red and the fangs did not.

"That is what Alex means to me. She saved my life. Don't think for an instant that if it meant saving her life, I wouldn't drag you to the edge of yours. But that's only because you started this. I get that you've had a hard life, and I'm not trying to belittle your pain. The difference between us is that I'm not willing to hurt other people just to prove how I feel about Alex. You're the one who's willing to kill without an inciting incident. Sit there and think about that for a minute, and when we come back, we'll see if you've got a looser tongue."

And then just to put some more fear of God into him, she burst into her mist form. She swirled around him like an angry wind, then surged out the door, letting it bang shut behind her.

She reformed next to the desk outside the room, where Maggie was monitoring the inside from a computer terminal. But Maggie wasn't looking at the monitor, she was looking at Kara with wide eyes.

"Too much you think?" Kara asked.

"Exactly how close have you come to suicide?"

Kara looked away.

"Enough."

Maggie wasn't sure what to make of that. On the one hand, she was pretty sure that Alex was the one. But on the other, she wasn't sure that Alex dying would drive her as close to the edge as it would Kara. She resolved then and there to keep an eye on Kara if this went to the worst-case scenario, if only for Alex.

And if it did end in the worst-case scenario, they could lean on each other.

 **oOo**

Things spiraled from there.

Maggie had the bright idea to have J'onn impersonate Thompson to get Malverne to talk, hedging on the son having pinned his entire sense of self-worth on the father. But Malverne had seen through it, and sat back laughing at their wasted time.

Kara couldn't be mad at Maggie for that. It had been a good try.

And then Woo had received a signal from one of their trackers, requesting a software update, and upon seeing it, Winn had realized that Alex had pulled a trick to get herself noticed.

Kara had told Maggie, who had been in another round of interrogation with Malverne, but at the news, Malverne would only smirk and advise them not to follow that thread.

In hindsight, that should have been a red flag, Maggie had said as much, but Kara was so dead-set on finding Alex, she flew right past it.

Sure enough, all that was at the site was a laptop showing Alex. It was connected to a large timer counting down. The words 'NOW YOU HAVE FOUR' were painted on the wall behind the setup.

Kara watched in horror as the countdown accelerated down to four hours, and the laptop showed water begin to pour into Alex's cell.

Kara brought that laptop to Malverne, placing it on the new table and once again asking where Alex was.

Malverne shrugged as he replied "I told you not to go there-"

"Do we need a repeat of earlier?" Kara growled, her eyes flashing, "Tell me where she is!"

"All your outburst did was tell me that I have you by the balls…metaphorically. I gave you thirty-six hours to break my father out of prison, but you didn't listen. So now, that room is going to fill up with water in less than four hours. I think it's time you got moving. Drowning is a terrible way to die, or so I've been told."

Kara took a breath to calm herself.

"Let me talk to Alex."

Malverne acquiesced, hitting a command on the laptop. Sound began to play, the sound of rushing water and a woman's desperate struggle against encroaching doom.

"Alex!" Kara called, spinning the laptop around to look at the screen.

" _Kara? Is that you? I sent out a signal, I thought you were coming!"_

"He re-routed the IP address, he sent us somewhere else."

" _Damn it! Do you know that-"_

"Yeah, Malverne's sitting across from me. He's been taunting us the whole time. Do you have any idea where you are?"

" _I was unconscious. I could be hours away or in the city."_

"I can't hear your heartbeat, and Shanoa can't track you with magic."

Kara took a shaky breath.

"Alex, I'm scared."

Malverne spoke up just then.

"Alex, it's Rick. I don't want to hurt you, I keep on telling your sister that. Tell her to get my father, and this can all be over. You can come home and get dry."

There was a few seconds of silence from the other end, and Kara could see Alex doing an excellent impression of a fish before composing herself.

" _Rick…go fuck yourself. Kara, do not give his psychopath what he wants. You cannot let yourself be blackmailed. You cannot open yourself up to that, ever. Do you understand me? Supergirl is bigger than me."_

"But what about Kara?" her sister replied, "What am I going to do without you?"

" _You're so much stronger than you think you are. You can do this. But if you really feel like you need someone to keep your head on straight, I'd suggest Lena. If something happens to me, go to her, throw yourself at her feet and try to get her back. Tell her about what happened to me, and tell her I'd consider it a personal favor if she'd keep an eye on my dork of a sister."_

Kara could see Alex smile slightly, and a bitter laugh creeped up her throat.

"You can ask her that favor yourself. We're going to get you out of this somehow, Alex. I can't lose you."

"As sweet as this is, I think that's enough for how," Malverne said, reaching for the laptop.

But Kara popped her fangs and gnashed them.

" _I will bite off your fingers!"_

When Malverne flinched, Kara snatched the laptop up and darted out of the room.

" _Did he flinch?_ " she heard Alex ask.

"Like a rabbit."

" _Good girl."_

Maggie was at the outside desk, and her jaw dropped at hearing Alex's voice.

"Alex?" she gasped, "Alex, is that you?"

Alex asked to speak to Maggie privately, and Kara handed over the laptop. Maggie walked away with it, and while she knew she probably shouldn't, Kara listened in.

"Babe, everyone here is working hard and we're going to find you."

" _The water is rising fast, and there are things I need to say."_

"No, don't start talking like this is the end."

" _I don't want it to be, but in case it is-"_

"It's not! You're a badass, Danvers! And you're going to figure out a way to get yourself out of there or you're going to hold on until I find you."

Maggie's voice cracked, and Alex wasn't much better.

" _Maggie, listen to me please-"_

"NO! We just started this, you and me, and it's not going to end. Not today, not for a long time. We just had our first Valentine's Day, and I want to do more with you."

Maggie started to tear up, but she didn't care.

"I want more firsts. I want to have a first vacation. We haven't even argued about where we're gonna go yet or how to load the dishwasher. Or what to name our first dog. Do you want to get a dog?"

Alex gave a teary laugh from her end.

" _Yeah…let's name her Gertrude."_

"See?" Maggie croaked, "There's a lifetime of firsts that we're going to do together. So you hold on, okay? Hold on until I get to you. You promise. Promise me!"

But before Alex could answer, the screen fizzled out. The laptop was out of power.

Maggie screamed and threw the laptop to the floor, where it shattered. Kara rushed over to see if Maggie was okay, and the other woman whirled on her.

"I told you not to rush in, and now you've made things worse!"

"I was just doing what I thought was right."

Maggie could barely see straight. The pain of the mere possibility of a life without Alex was too much. A part of her realized that she wasn't being fair, that Kara was understandably freaking out, but the rest of her was too upset for rational thought.

"You should have listened to me! I'm her girlfriend!"

"I'm her sister!"

"And you think that trumps me?"

"RAO NO!"

Maggie started, and finally saw the tears in Kara's eyes.

"I know what you mean to Alex, and I know what she means to you," she breathed, "You broke down a wall that no one knew was there. You got her to embrace a part of herself I never saw, and I shared a room with her for years."

Kara grasped Maggie's shoulders.

"You're family, Maggie. We both have so much to lose if Alex dies. We are who we are because of her. And if that goes away…"

Kara trailed off, then misted away, not willing to voice the thought. Maggie was left alone, in tears.

But she had the answer to her earlier thought. Maybe she wouldn't be driven as close to the edge as Kara would, but she'd be driven pretty far.

Meanwhile, Kara's form misted out of the DEO and reformed in the skies. She soared upward, hiding in a cloud and letting the cool air and moisture wash over her.

And she remembered.

She remembered her first meeting with Alex, the confusion and uncertainty on both sides. She remembered when they fully became sisters. She remembered pieces of high school and college. She remembered their first team-up as Supergirl and DEO agent. She remembered breaking her sister from Myriad's control. She remembered facing Metallo together. She remembered Alex's arms around her as she wept over a blood-drained corpse. She remembered Alex nervously coming out, only to be met with understanding and love. She remembered Alex baring her neck to her, her trust unshakeable.

And she remembered something from the earlier days of Supergirl. The first session in the special training room, Kara brought down to human-normal by measured doses of Kryptonite radiation. She remembered Alex teaching her several moves, helping practice them until Kara had them down. And she remembered what happened next…

" _Alex, do you have a pocket knife by any chance?"_

 _Alex paused on her way to the door, then held up her hand. She continued her journey, picking up her tac belt where it lay by the door. She rummaged in a pocket and pulled out a simple switchblade._

 _Alex walked back over and handed it to Kara, confusion etched on her face. Her confusion grew when Kara used the vulnerability of the Kryptonite room to make a cut on her palm._

 _Kara then grabbed Alex's hand and, quick as a flash, made a similar cut in her palm. She pressed the hands, and the wounds, together, the blood mixing as it seeped out of the cuts._

"I call upon Rao to bless this day. My name is Kara Zor-El of the House of El. She who is without House, speak and answer: do you wish to join the House of El?"

 _Alex stared at her for a second, before gasping softly. And then she responded in kind. Her voice was heavily accented, but it was still Kryptonian. Kara had spent a long time teaching her sister the intricacies of her mother tongue. In Kara's modest opinion, Alex would likely be more fluent than Kal if it weren't for her strange habit of putting emphasis on certain vowels. It was still recognizably Kryptonian, but it was a sign of Alex's ongoing struggles with the language._

 _Still, it warmed Kara's heart that Alex was not only willing but able to converse with her in the language of her people._

"I do wish it."

 _Kara smiled._

"Then in the light of Rao, I name you Alia Zor-El, of the House of El."

 _Kara then gave Alex a tight hug._

"I name you sister."

"Hello, sister," _Alex replied, hugging Kara back._

 _After breaking the hug, Kara laughed lightly._

" _I've been wanting to do that for years, but the blood aspect has always been pretty much impossible. I wanted to do it right, though."_

" _I think Rao would have understood if the blood was missing," Alex replied, smiling back, "So does the name have any special meaning, or did you just pick it because it sounded similar?"_

" _Yes and no. It means 'blessing'. Because that's what you've been in my life."_

" _Oh my God, you're such a sap."_

 _Alex pushed her playfully, and Kara pushed her back. Laughter echoed around the room._

Kara's face was wet. And she knew that it wasn't due to clouds.

So many people had left her. Kara was still reeling from the last one. Lena's distance was still so raw. She could feel it, like a gaping wound on her chest.

And if Alex died, that wound would spread. It would lengthen across her body, deepen until it reached her heart.

And then that would be it.

Kara had lived with pain for over a decade. But this past year? The death of her aunt, the Red K rampage and its aftermath, becoming a vampire, the betrayal of her step-father, finding a powerful love and then losing her, and now this with Alex? It was all too much.

Her spirit was already bearing so many cracks. If Alex died, it would finally shatter. She'd let herself waste away, or she'd find a big enough piece of Kryptonite to take to her throat.

A small part of her whispered something else, bringing up the tears and saying that Maggie would be the same way. Perhaps not as far, but far enough.

Kara felt very cold and very scared…

 **oOo**

Love was a powerful force. Maggie had been in several relationships before, but none of them felt anything like what she felt for Alex. She'd loved people, but she'd never been _in love_ with any of them. Love made people strong, but it also made them do things they wouldn't normally do, in the name of keeping that love safe.

Desperation was another powerful force. Maggie had had her back to the wall many times in the past. It came with the job. She knew that she'd kill to survive. There were records to prove it. She knew that she'd do what was necessary to protect others. It was part of the oath she took. There had been a few occasions where she'd caused harm in order to protect another.

At the moment, though, she was torn. A part of her rationalized this as another thing that was necessary to protect the woman she loved. Another part questioned if this was too far.

She stuffed her pockets with several gadgets, a plan forming in her head. She knew the layout of the prison, she had the tools to get her all the way, and she had the will. This whole thing with Malverne was a game of chicken, loser blinks first.

Well damn it, slap a kick-me sign on her back and call her a loser. But she was _done_ with this sick game.

"And what are we doing?"

Maggie swore she jumped three feet in the air. She whirled around and saw a stone-faced Shanoa.

For the umpteenth time since first meeting her, Maggie felt like those eyes were staring into her soul.

"You said you were married. If you were in my position, what would you do?" Maggie asked.

"Well, by this point, I probably would have killed something," came the frank reply, "And that's what puzzles me. You've been showing remarkable restraint so far. Why stop now?"

And for some reason, that ended up setting Maggie off. She spent a full two minutes screaming at Shanoa in rapid Spanish before finally switching back to English.

"Don't you dare patronize me, _bruja!_ I've been patient, I've been as level as I can be. But that damn _psicópata_ is right about one thing. Love makes people do crazy things. And maybe this is insane, but it's the only way Alex gets home safe."

"And what do you suppose Alex would say to that?"

"At least she'd be alive to say it!"

Maggie slowly came down from her anger, tears starting to form.

"I can't do it. She lets me breathe. I've never felt this way about anyone else. I can see a life for us stretched out before me, and I can't let it be just a dream. I can't lose her…I can't…"

"And I understand that. 'Til death do us part' takes an _exceedingly_ long time for vampires, but that doesn't mean I haven't thought about what I would do if Adrian were to die. None of those thoughts are pleasant. What I'm asking is for a little calm."

"The woman I love is slowly dying, and you expect me to be calm?"

"Because the situation has changed."

And that gave Maggie pause.

"What do you mean?"

"Remember that call I said I was making earlier?"

 **oOo**

Rick Malverne stopped from the umpteenth round of 'count the ceiling tiles' when the door slammed open.

Supergirl was framed in the doorway, her cape shifting in an unseen wind. Her head was bowed, casting her face in shadow.

"Tell me something, Rick," she said softly, "Did your dad ever take you fishing?"

"Yes," Malverne replied hesitantly, not sure where this was going.

"Did he ever share this little analogy about how you can only fish for so long before you have to throw a stick of dynamite in the water?"

"I've…heard the phrase…"

And Supergirl whipped her head up. There was something going on with her face. It seemed leaner, and her eyes seemed sunken. Her skin was ashen, but her lips were still a deep red, like they were bloodstained. Her face was stained with tear tracks, but that somehow made her bared fangs and hellish eyes all the more terrifying.

"Guess who's tired of fishing?"

In a flash, she had crossed the room. The table made a bang as it hit the wall, having been tossed aside. Malverne suddenly found himself being lifted up by his neck and chin and shoved against the far wall. His legs kicked feebly.

"You…you can't…"

"Oh, I'm sorry," she hissed, "The Girl Scout's gone home for the day. You now find yourself in the unenviable position of having seriously _pissed me off._ "

Her eyes glowed brighter, and her grip got just a bit stronger.

"I'm sure Non could tell you what a poor position that is…oh wait, no he can't. Because he's dead. But you can ask him the particulars yourself in a little bit. I just need some information from you first, and it's the last time I'm going to ask."

She brought him closer, making sure he had a full view of her fangs.

" _WHERE. IS. MY. SISTER?_ "

"You…you know the rules…my father…"

"Isn't here. This has never been about him, really. He has no idea what's been going on. If he did, he would be telling you to stop, I'm sure. This is actually about you, me, and Alex. You're standing between me and someone I love. That's not a safe place to stand."

"You can't—AH!"

A low-level lightning spell shot into him. Not very powerful, but enough to cause a jolt of pain.

"There's plenty more where that came from. But honestly, I'm thinking of a different trick. Way I figure, we've got some time to kill before Alex dies, by which I mean you die. So here's what's going to happen. Every minute or so, I'm going to bite down and take a quick drink. And unlike when I do it with my sister, I'm not going to be very careful about it. In fact, I'm going to be making it as painful as I can. You can stop this game at any time. You just have to give me what I want."

She shoved him back against the wall, then tilted his head to expose his neck.

"Enjoy the other end of this. Now you get to feel what it's like to be trapped before someone willing to do anything for the person she loves."

But as she leaned closer, fangs bared and ready…

"KARA!"

Kara whipped her head around, seeing Shanoa had entered the room.

"Don't sink to his level. He's not worth it."

"Alex is," Kara hissed.

"I won't argue that point. However, I will argue practicality. Even if you did know the exact method of the trick you describe, your self-control is shot right now. You would more than likely end up killing him, and thus doom the one you're trying so desperately to save."

Kara's face fell, and Malverne was dropped to the floor. He began to laugh a bit.

"I wouldn't be so smug if I were you," Shanoa said, "I didn't come in here to save your sorry ass. I came to inform Kara that a solution has just presented itself. _She_ doesn't have to do anything else."

The room suddenly cooled dramatically. The lights flickered. A heavy presence hung in the air.

And Adrian Tepes strode into the room.

"If you ladies will excuse me," he said, his fangs sliding smoothly into view, "Mr. Malverne and I have business to discuss."

Shanoa led Kara out of the room. The door closed with an ominous click.

"My father had this little saying," Adrian said, "'What is a man? A miserable little pile of secrets.' Of course, he was talking about man's inner demons. The struggle against that man keeps hidden from the world. But those are not the sort of secrets we are dealing with today. I already know what is in your soul. You are, at heart, a coward. You scream out for you father, thinking he can provide answers to your sad little life when he had already mucked up his own. But so consumed in this search, you are willing to harm others to do it. Alex Danvers did nothing to you. Neither did Kara. And yet, you hurt them out of some belief that their power will get you what you want."

Adrian loomed over Malverne, his mouth twisted into a sneer.

"Frankly, I find you a disgusting smear upon the Earth. But you are a smear that is making much trouble, and so you must be dealt with."

Malverne laughed, but it was hollow, the sudden cold of the room and the strange stare of this man weighing on him.

"I still hold the cards. You can't do anything to me without hurting Alex."

Adrian gave a dark chuckle.

"It's cute that you think you know me. Let's be honest, the only reason you've been able to manipulate everyone here so effectively is because you've been watching and studying them. But I wasn't in National City for very long. You don't know me. I'm a wild card in this game.

"But let's talk about what I can do. You'll find that the answer is 'far more than them'. And not just because I know more magic or special techniques than them, although that certainly helps. It's a matter of willingness. All of them, even my darling wife, they still believe in the Justice of Men to varying degrees. They would not harm you very much, so that you might face that Justice. Me, however? I have lived a very long time. And in that time, I have found that sometimes, the Justice of Men…it's just not enough."

Adrian tsked, then pointed skyward.

"But now, THAT Justice? That's something no one can escape. And I think you'll find that He is a lot less lenient about certain things than Man is. Bottom line, the people in this building? These heroes? They would stop at a certain point. Me? I really don't care if you live or die, so long as I get the information I require."

The lights flickered, casting shadows around the room.

"And you will be telling me that information."

Malverne gulped on instinct.

"You want to know something interesting?" Adrian said, still keeping with the calm and even tone he'd held since entering the room, "Would you like to know exactly what happens when a vampire drains someone of their blood? It's quite an interesting process. Exhaustion at first. Perhaps you feel like you haven't had much to eat in some time. Like low blood sugar, if you are familiar with that feeling. Next, you start to feel fairly cold. Quite reasonable, the main distributor of heat is slowly going away. And then you find it harder to breathe, as less blood means less oxygen carried around. And while this is happening, your body is sensing the lack of pressure in your veins and arteries, and is trying to compensate by forcing the blood through faster. Which of course will only speed up the process of loss, even if the vampire draining you is being careful in how much he takes at once. Eventually, we come to the part where your brain is having trouble functioning. Not enough blood flow, the cells starting to wither and die. The brain itself in shock, and all the pleasant things that would come with it. I've found minor hallucinations to be common. And in their last moments, I have personally found my victims having a moment of clarity. The realization that this is _the end_.

"And as you might imagine, with a measured drain, this list of symptoms stretches out over a longer period of time. The longer it goes, the more the victim can… _focus_ on what's going on. The medical term is hypovolemic shock. Survival at this point becomes…an interesting effort.

"And here's another fun fact. I heard Kara's threat. I have excellent hearing. And while she doesn't know that trick _, I certainly do_."

The shadows in the room had lengthened as Adrian spoke, and now there was very little light present. Malverne realized that with the lower light, the vampire's eyes had begun to glow.

"I envy you, to be honest. You clearly have a much more loving relationship with your father than I did, if you're willing to do all this for him. My father was a bit of a bastard, you see. Some good things, however. He taught me quite a bit about the various tricks that come with being a blood-sucking creature of the night."

Adrian's eyes were now sunken into his head and glowed in the darkness. His face was gaunt, his skin was pale as the moon, and his fangs glinted like twin daggers. Shadow clung to his form, making him seem like he had stepped out of a gothic horror novel.

"So I assure you, I know _exactly_ what I am doing."

Malverne began to stammer. The full horror of his situation was dawning on him. This was someone he did not know, could not manipulate. He was locked in the room with someone who was willing to drive him to the edge of death, and knew how to both do it and keep him there.

The cards were slipping from his hands, and there was nothing he could do.

"You…you can't…I still know where she is. You need me to tell you. You can't kill me, you need me!"

"Mr. Malverne," Adrian laughed, "You misunderstand me. I'm not going to kill you, not just yet. But by the time I'm done, you'll be begging for it. And the only way it will stop is if you tell me what I need to know. Whether it stops with you alive or dead is entirely up to you."

"I…I won't…you'll get nothing from me…"

"Oh, still playing that game, are we? Well, if worse comes to worse, I have another option. I've been told you managed to avoid a mind probe from Director J'onzz. But I'm afraid your techniques will be for naught here. I know of a way to peer into your mind on a potent level, even more so than a Martian can do. All it requires…is for me… _to drink all of your blood."_

The words were spoken softly, but they hit the air with the force of a hurricane. Malverne began to shake.

"You won't actually…you won't! You can't!"

And then Adrian leaned over the frightened and cowering man, looming large and with a look on his face that was darker than the night.

"My father was Dracula. _Don't tell me what I couldn't do!"_

 **oOo**

Kara and Maggie paced in the hallway.

"You're sure this will work?" Maggie asked.

"For the tenth time, yes," Shanoa said, seated at the desk with a magazine in her hand, "It's hardly Adrian's first interrogation, that's why I called him. We're lucky he was finishing that business in El Paso."

"Can you tell what's going on in there?" Maggie asked Kara.

"No, he set up some kind of sound dampener in the room," Kara replied, shaking her head, "Probably some kind of spell. And honestly, I'm fairly certain we don't _want_ to know what he's doing."

"Probably best," Shanoa interjected.

Suddenly, the door opened, and Adrian stepped out. His suit was immaculate, no sign of what he had been doing. He was adjusting his tie, and his face was the picture of calm.

"Your prisoner requires medical attention," he said, "And I have the location."

Kara almost hugged him, but she didn't want to waste any more time.

"Where?"

 **oOo**

Kara and Maggie burst into the warehouse, lightning and gun in hand. At the other end of the room, they saw a large glass box. It was filled with water, and a person was floating inside.

Alex's name burst from Kara's throat as she flew forward, shattering the glass with a single strike and sending everything inside the box crashing out.

One minute, Alex was taking what she was sure was her last gasps of air as the water reached the top of the cell. The next, there was a rush, her body pulled along. Air hit her face, and she gasped instinctively. And then two warm bodies were wrapped around her from either side. On one side, her face was being peppered with kisses. On the other, another face was buried in the crook of her neck, whimpering like a scared puppy.

" _Gracias a Dios, gracias a Dios…"_

" _Nahkluv Rao, nahkluv Rao…"_

Both Kara and Maggie hugged Alex as tightly as they could, half-afraid she would disappear if they let go. If Alex hadn't been soaked to the bone, she would have felt the tears dripping onto her body.

"You held on…"

"She held on…"

"I held on," Alex found herself croaking.

 **oOo**

Alex was still very tired from her ordeal, but she had enough in her to tell her story and hear theirs in turn. Kara readjusted Alex's blanket as her sister shifted.

"So Adrian's back?" she asked.

"We never would have found you if he hadn't come and put the fear of God into Malverne," Maggie said, "Or the Devil as the case may be. I almost can't believe he managed it. Nothing anyone could do could crack that nut."

"Well of course he was able to," Alex scoffed, "He's related to freaking Dracula."

"What?" Kara started.

"You didn't know? It's not like he and Shanoa have made it a secret. The Tepes bloodline. _Tepes_. As in Vlad Tepes, the guy who inspired Dracula. If vampires are real, how much do you want to bet that he either was _that_ Dracula, or at least was connected to him?"

Maggie and Kara gawked at her for a moment before Maggie turned to Kara.

"Holy crap, you're related to Dracula."

Kara muttered something in Kryptonian.

"I can't decide what's more crazy awesome," Maggie said, "That, or Alex making a life preserver with her pants."

"Wasn't hard," Alex said, "I just had to tie off the legs, then whip it along the surface so that air got trapped in."

"Wasn't hard, she says. That's some Navy Seal shit right there. I am in awe of you, you know that right?"

"And I thought it was just my legs," Alex teased.

"Well, they are nice legs."

"Guys, right here," Kara said.

"Then plug your ears for a moment, because I've got something else to say to Maggie," Alex replied, then continued once Kara had done so, "Maggie, you didn't let me finish before. Those firsts that you talked about? I want to have them all with you. I never want to stop having firsts with you."

Maggie stared at her for a moment before lunging forward and kissing her. They whispered words of love to each other for a moment before breaking up, aware that they had an audience.

But Kara was just grinning like a loon.

"You two are adorable. And awesome."

"Well, I hate to burst the mood, but I have to know. How are you two right now, really? This had to have been crazy bad for you."

"It was, and I'll be having nightmares for a while, but I'm fine now," Maggie said, holding Alex's hand.

"Same," Kara said, but it was a little too quick for Alex's taste.

"Kara," she said, giving her a look she'd seen her mother use, "Tell me the truth."

Kara murmured and looked away.

Maggie sighed and said "In the interest of truth, I was pretty close to snapping like she did. She just got to it first."

"Snapping?"

"I was going to hurt him," Kara said, "I'd been giving him the scary eyes, and the screaming, and I broke the table at one point, but just before Adrian arrived, I had him by the throat, threatening to drain him bit by bit until he talked."

Alex stared at her, and was about to reassure her, but Kara kept talking.

"I admit it, I went a little off the rails. It's just…almost everyone I've cared about in my life, I've lost. I lost my parents, my aunt, my whole world. I lost Jeremiah, I lost James, I lost…Lena…"

Kara stopped and took a shaky breath.

"I didn't want to lose you…after everything that's happened, I would have broken…beyond all hope of repair…"

"Kara…"

"So I called Eliza!" Kara said suddenly, breaking the tension, "She's going to come down for a few days, reassure herself in person. Moms, am I right? We should probably all prepare for some attention from her. Yes, even you, Maggie. She's not going to let you go without a few hugs at least."

Maggie and Alex gave each other a look, and that look told them they were thinking the same thing. They could tell she was trying to change the subject, but they let her.

Alex in particular began to hatch a plan…

 **oOo**

Winn swiveled in his chair, a lot on his mind. Being Guardian's 'man in the van' was a little different from working at the DEO. For one thing, the atmosphere could get much colder, even if Winn knew the triggers for it.

He was pretty sure he was going to hit one, but his resolve was hard. He had witnessed the tail end of the conversation between Alex, Maggie, and Kara yesterday, following Alex's retrieval. And it just wouldn't leave his head. It piled up with all the other things he'd been thinking about.

And it all led back to a single point: James was shunning Kara over the vampirism.

Kara was going through a lot, but Winn knew that James' actions were causing a lot of harm. He'd been trying to play peacekeeper for months, but was getting nowhere.

He sighed.

"I've had all I can stands, and I can't stands no more," he muttered.

The back of the van opened up, and James climbed in, taking off the Guardian helmet and giving a deep sigh.

"Quiet out, tonight."

"Not arguing," Winn said, "It's been a rough couple of days."

"Why, what happened?"

"You didn't hear?"

James shook his head, and Winn realized that in all the chaos, James had been left out. So he told the story. By the time he was done, James looked concerned.

"Alex is okay now, right?"

"Yeah, she's recovering. Kara and Maggie are watching her like hawks, and her mom's coming down for a few days."

"Good, that's good. I'll send her a get-well card or something."

"I'm sure she'd appreciate it."

Winn paused for a second, mulling his next words over before speaking back up.

"We've all been through the wringer. Kara especially."

James' face hardened.

"I'd think Alex had the worst time. She nearly died."

"I'm not arguing that," Winn said, "I'm just saying that Kara doesn't take loss well. This whole thing really messed her up."

"She can't be too choked up. She deals with blood and death quite a bit now, doesn't she?"

Winslow Schott Jr considered himself a patient man. He was not quick to anger. He'd let a million things slide with little more than a snarky comment. But that didn't mean he didn't have buttons that ought never be pushed. Nor did it mean his patience was unlimited.

He'd been dealing with James' passive-aggressive BS for some time now…but this was the straw that broke the camel's back.

He inhaled sharply, his hands curling into fists.

"You know what, Jimmy?"

"What?"

Winn surged to his feet, got right in Olsen's face, and screamed out at the top of his lungs.

"FUCK YOU AND THE HIGH HORSE YOU RODE IN ON!"

"Wha-"

"No, no, you don't get to keep doing this! I have sat here and taken all your slams and your sneers, but I am officially done with your passive-aggressive bullshit! I am tired of you badmouthing Kara! She's got enough to deal with without you adding to it by being a complete ass about this. You want to know how many people she's killed since she became a vampire? TWO! And with how shitty the situation was, no one would have looked sideways if Malverne had become number three! She gets her blood from bags, or a few sips from a willing donor. It's _all_ donated blood, nimrod! And news flash, Mister Photographer! She doesn't have a choice in this! She didn't choose to become this, but she did choose to keep going with her life instead of hiding herself away. But you! You just can't see how brave she's been through this entire thing. She was practically _assaulted_ , and you keep punishing her for it! Do you realize how fucked up that is?"

Winn stomped over to the door and flung it open.

"Consider this my last night. Until you can fucking man up, admit your fucking mistakes, and beg Kara for some fucking forgiveness, Guardian's man in the van is fucking done! Good night, sir!"

Winn let the door slam behind him, leaving James reeling. As he stalked off into the night, he took a deep breath of the cool air.

"I should have done that ages ago."

* * *

 _I am a horrible person…_

 _Endgame's worth it, endgame's worth it, endgame's worth it…_

 _Oh, and a shout out to my brother the EMS, who helped me write Adrian's explanation of hypovolemic shock._

 _I guess it's kind of obvious who he's based on now, huh?_


	19. Venting

_So, most of this is character stuff, but there is set-up for what's going to be a big finale, or at least the first part of it._

 _I always had an end in mind, and we're coming up on it. Be prepared for some really major stuff._

* * *

 **Supergirl: Blood Ties**

Chapter 19

Venting

It took a week before Alex could put her plan into action. If it wasn't Maggie or her mother, it was Kara watching her like a hawk, the entire affair having put her protective nature into overdrive.

But finally, Alex had set up a distraction, and was able to slip away from her 'minders'. Eliza had gone back to Midvale, Kara was busy with a little project that Alex had shoved into her arms, and Maggie was in on the plan and gave her a lift.

Alex was able to breeze past security, finally making her way to the top office. The secretary gave her a nod and waved her in. Alex had stolen Kara's phone at one point and copied the number, speaking to the woman to bring her in on the plan.

"She's just finishing up a phone call, and I've cleared her schedule for the next hour or so. If you need more time, give me a shout."

"Thanks Jess."

"Anything for Kara and Lena. I ship those two so hard."

"You and me both," Alex laughed before entering the office.

"Find a way to make it happen, Anderson," Lena all but shouted into her phone, "Jack Spheer was my friend, and I will not have Maxwell Lord leave his grubby little fingerprints all over his legacy!"

Lena hung up and practically slammed the phone down on her desk, letting out an explosive breath and rubbing her temples.

"Damn Lord to Hell…"

"I understand the sentiment," Alex said.

Lena started, finally noticing Alex standing there.

"Alex…what are you—"

"Came to see you, actually."

Lena blinked awkwardly, but quickly composed herself.

"Are you okay? Winn told me what happened."

"I'm fine, I can still only take sponge baths because showers trigger me, but I'm fine. Thanks for the flowers you sent, by the way. But I didn't come here to talk about me."

"What do you-"

And then Lena's face hardened.

"This is about Kara, isn't it?"

"Look who's smart," Alex smirked.

"I'm not having this conversation," Lena said, getting up and walking to the side table, where she began to pour herself a glass.

"Too bad, because I'm not leaving."

"I could call security, you know."

"I'd like to see your rent-a-cops handle me," Alex laughed, "If psycho aliens who can pick up cars and throw them can't keep me down…"

Lena ignored her, taking a sip of her drink.

"You know, if you had seen Kara lately, you'd be singing a different tune. There's sad sacks, and then there's her."

Lena kept ignoring her.

"Truth be told, we really should have seen this coming. Kara doesn't take loss well, you know that. So it really surprises me that you're not willing to hear the consequences of your decision."

Lena slammed her glass back onto the table and whirled around.

"And what about the consequences of hers, huh?"

Alex hid her smile as Lena began to rant. This was exactly what she was looking for. A chance for Lena to vent so that Alex could get to the bottom of all this.

"She hid this from me! She kept this from me, after all we've been through. Do you know what my nightmares have been like? I keep seeing my sweet Kara twisting into a monster, blood pouring from her hands and mouth. There's red everywhere, piles of bodies, some of them people we know, and she still drinking! I know what massive blood loss does to a body, Alex! I know exactly what she does to people! I've barely gotten a decent night's sleep since I found out, all because of my cursedly vivid imagination."

She shuddered.

"And I've seen the movies, read the stories. That's partly where I've been getting these nightmares, but there's something else that keeps popping up. Hypnosis. Vampires can hypnotize people. How much of what we had was that? Was it all even real, or just a figment of my influenced imagination? Did I actually have love, or was it a lie like so much of the other love in my life?"

' _Fun's over_ ,' Alex thought as she saw Lena start to tear up, and she lunged forward to wrap the other woman in a hug.

"Hey, hey, hey, it _was_ real. She doesn't have that ability. You made that choice yourself."

Lena calmed down a little.

"And I know someone else who's had nightmares like that."

"Who?" asked Lena.

"Kara. Anything you've thought in your fear, all the nightmares you've had…Kara's already had them. In spades. I know for a fact that she sometimes snaps awake, thinking she's still covered in blood. She is terrified of losing herself in the thirst for blood, despite what a grip she has on it. She keeps to a certain amount every day, all donated, and no matter how much that her deeper instincts beg for it, she doesn't drink more. In fact, do you know how many people she's actually killed, how often she's seriously lost control?"

"How many?"

"A whopping two. The first time was because it was her first feeding, and that requires a complete draining. The second was actually losing control, but only after being drained of her Kryptonian powers and tortured by your psycho mother."

Lena suddenly had another reason to hate her mother.

Alex sat Lena down on the couch and continued to talk. She described in exacting detail how Kara had been the past two weeks. The morose looks, the quiet, the distraction. How she'd whimper just the slightest bit whenever Lena was mentioned, like a kicked puppy. Little anecdotes of depression.

"I'm going to level with you. That girl has abandonment issues a mile long. She's lost SO many people in her life. Right now, she's added you to the list, and it's killed her to do it."

Alex sighed.

"You made her life shine, Lena. I have seen every shade of emotion on that girl's face, but I've never seen Kara as happy as when she was with you. And if you felt even close to the same way, I want you to ask yourself if she's worth it, if you're truly ready for it all to end like this."

And Lena paused. She always had a quick mind, and as a result, it all raced through her thoughts. All the soft looks and tender touches and kind words. The lunch dates and the movie nights. The first time Kara came to her apartment and smiled at the mountain painting, the gift that Lena couldn't bear to get rid of even in her anger. Their first hug, their first kiss, their first morning waking up together, their first real date out.

The happiness and warmth that Lena hadn't truly felt in years.

Lean collapsed backward, all energy leaving her.

"Oh God, I've lost her," she whispered in horror, the full scope of how much they'd both been hurting becoming clear as crystal.

"Not quite yet," Alex said, "One thing I'm sure you've discovered about Kara: she doesn't give up easily. It's a family trait, honestly. The only reason I haven't ripped you a new one for breaking my sister's heart is because I'm honestly still rooting for you two. Like I said, I've never seen Kara as happy as when she was with you, and God willing, I'll see her like that again."

Her energy returned, and Lena shot to her feet.

"Where is she now? I need to talk to her."

"Dial it back a bit, we've got time. You'll have at least until tomorrow to practice what you're going to say."

"What do you mean?"

"You honestly think I'd be able to get away without distracting her?" Alex laughed, "That she wouldn't be watching me like a hawk after I nearly died, her protectiveness dialed to eleven? So I could come here without her following me, I convinced her to go out with a friend. Someone unconnected to all this drama, that she could vent to and receive some third-party advice."

Lena nodded. It sounded reasonable.

"And?"

"And that friend lives in another universe."

Lena blinked owlishly.

"What."

"Yeah, that was my reaction. Multiverse theory is right, who knew? By now, they're probably out drinking, or something."

 **oOo**

"You know I can't actually get drunk on this, right?"

"Kara, Kara, Kara," Sara Lance tutted, "It's not about the drink. It's about the experience."

"I have a friend who might disagree. She was a bartender."

"So not that I wouldn't do this any time, but what brought this on all of the sudden?"

Kara sighed.

"I fell in love…and then it fell apart."

Sara paused, then pushed Kara's drink closer to her.

"Drink, then continue," she said seriously.

Kara knocked back some of her glass, then sighed.

"So, what was his name?" Sara asked.

" _Her_ name was Lena."

Sara stared at her for a moment, then laughed.

"Screw heteronormativity, am I right?"

"You're the one who assumed it was a guy."

"Describe her for me, please."

Kara extracted her phone from her pocket and poked at it a few times before passing it to Sara. The other woman looked at the displayed picture and whistled.

"Nice. Love her hair."

Sara then gave her a wicked grin.

"How good was she in the sack?"

"SARA!"

Sara howled with laughter at the field of red now covering Kara's face.

"Had to ask," Sara said after finally calming down, "So what happened? She get freaked because you're an alien?"

"No, she figured that out herself. She didn't care, either. Screw what her family would have thought, she liked me for me."

"Her family?"

"The Luthors are vehemently anti-alien," Kara said, "Her brother even became a super-villain over it."

A grin graced her face.

"A few times, we joked that finding out that Lena was dating an alien would finally be the thing that gave her mother a heart attack. Or a stroke, either's fine."

"Uber-bitch, I take it?"

"Lillian Luthor is objectively the worst."

"So back to my original question," Sara said, "What happened?"

Kara slumped a bit.

"She found out I was a vampire."

"And I'm guessing she didn't take that nearly as well."

Kara took a sip of her drink.

"So how come you weren't straight with her about it? I presume you kept it from her, why?"

"Fear. That's the ultimate reason. I was terrified of what she'd think if she found out. And all my fears came true."

"There's got to be more to it than that," Sara said, "Until it actually came into the open, you were pretty well put together when you visited. I can only assume you've got a good handle on this vampire thing."

"Tell that to my subconscious."

"Look, Kara, I really don't know what to tell you. It sounds like you got so scared that it made things worse. But I'm willing to bet that Lena is just as scared over this issue as you."

"I have some idea of that," Kara said, "My nightmares about losing control are pretty major. If Lena's having even a fraction of them…"

"Tell me more about her. How does she make you feel?"

Kara was silent for a long time, trying to gather her thoughts. When she did, though, it all began to spill out.

Lena's beauty and brains. Her determination to overcome her family's shadowy legacy. How bright and warm everything felt when they were together. How they had poured their pain out to each other, shown their scars. How when that was done, they built each other up, provided relief from the pain. How the vampirism came out, and what Lena did in response.

"So she gave you the cold shoulder," Sara growled, "After trying to talk to her and explain yourself, she left you out to dry."

"It's not her fault," Kara said, "She got scared. I should have said something earlier. Instead, it came out in the worst way. Between her friend dying and the fact I was keeping this big and scary secret…"

Kara put her head in her hands.

"How long ago was this?" Sara asked.

"Little over two weeks."

Sara nearly swallowed her tongue.

"Two weeks and you're still defending her?"

Kara looked up, nodding slightly. Sara drained the rest of her drink to stop her shock.

"Jesus, you had the real thing."

Sara ran a hand through her hair.

"Okay, new tactic. You need to get her back. When you get home, you fly straight to her place. Don't leave until you've had your say. You go down on your knees and pour your heart out. If you really mean that much to each other, something will happen."

"And if it's better that I don't? What if she's right to keep her distance? I hurt her once over this, what if I-"

"What if nothing! Kara, you screwed up. That makes you human, not a monster. I know monsters. I've seen then, fought them. I've _been_ one. The things I've seen, the things I've done, _that's_ the shit that will give you nightmares. But that's not you. You're mopey about Lena, that's fine, you're entitled. But if you want to sit there and not do anything about it, then super-strong or not, I _will_ kick your ass."

Kara took a deep breath.

"You really think I should try?"

"What do you think your life will be like if you don't?" Sara asked.

Kara thought for a moment, then shivered.

"Exactly. Look, we're all going to mess up in love. That's life. We've all been where you are. We've all had our hearts ripped out, whether it was something they did or something we did. You got in deep, and then something happened. You gave her some space, and that's fine. But now you have to go back and fix what's broken. If you don't, you'll regret it for the rest of your life."

Sara gave her a piercing stare.

"So, what are you going to do now?"

Kara took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"I'm going to go back. I don't want this to end."

"Good girl. Let's get another drink in you, little liquid courage."

"It's really not going to help."

"Well, then maybe I want another drink. This sentimental junk is exhausting."

 **oOo**

"You didn't have to come back with me to STAR," Kara said as they entered the building.

"Eh, I wanted to see you off," Sara said, "Plus, I need to talk to Cisco about something. The Waverider's been a little wonky since we beat a bunch of time-traveling villains. Probably something to do with the paradox made during the finale. Kind of want to avoid things getting worse and accidently breaking time."

Sara paused.

"Come to think of it, I should probably tell Barry that we beat Thawne."

"Thawne?"

"Evil speedster, he and Barry have history."

"Ah, yeah, that would be something to tell him."

They continued to chat idly as they entered the elevator and rode it down, their conversation not really having a point.

And then it happened.

If asked, Kara wouldn't be able to put her finger on exactly when it started happening, or even when she was fully cognizant of it. But she'd developed a sense for when danger was near. Maybe it was because she was using her super senses more often since becoming Supergirl, always keeping an unconscious ear out for trouble. Maybe it was experience, just knowing when it was too quiet and a shoe was going to drop. Maybe it was due to the enhancements to her senses that her vampirism had given her.

Whatever the case, she grabbed Sara and whirled the other woman behind her just as the elevator hit the bottom and the doors exploded inward.

After making sure Sara was okay, Kara turned to mist and slipped through the wrecked doors.

Taking in her surroundings was always strange in her mist form. It wasn't solely sight and sound, it was more like an _awareness_ of everything around her. Full 360-degree vision, no blind spots.

She saw Joe growl at some bleach-blonde man who oozed a sense of sliminess about reneging on a deal. She saw Caitlin and another man she didn't know rushing into the foyer. She saw the slimeball make a small ball appear, heard the ball make a whirring sound as he began to throw it.

"Move!" Joe shouted, and that was all the incentive Kara needed.

She reformed and snatched the ball out of the air, holding it in both hands tightly. She'd never actually done this before, but her cousin had told her the technique.

There is a muffled boom as the strange grenade went off, and some smoke squeezed out between Kara's fingers.

Everyone stared at her, and the man she didn't recognize squeaked out a question.

"Are…are you all right?"

"Oh, fine," she replied, "And you?"

"What the fuck?" cried the attempted bomber, finally finding his voice.

Kara spun around and shouted "Language!" before shoving him hard towards the wall. He hit it hard and slumped down.

"Caitlin, who did I just knock out?"

"Nice to see you too, Kara," Caitlin said, giving a relieved laugh.

"The hell's going on out there?" came Sara's voice from the elevator, "Was that an explosion?"

 **oOo**

After the locking the madman up again, everyone gathered in the main room for explanations.

It was a crazy story. The bomber was a man named Abra Kadabra, a multiverse-traveling thief using technology so advanced it looked like magic.

"Wait, his name is Abra Kadabra?" Sara had interjected, "What was he smoking when he came up with that?"

But the thief wasn't the worst part. The worst was Savitar, an evil speedster more powerful and deadly than any other they'd come across. He portrayed himself as a God of Speed, and had a serious hate for the Flash, due to having been imprisoned in the extra-dimensional Speed Force by a future Barry. As revenge now that he was out, he planned to kill Iris. The heroes had the day and time thanks what was described as complicated reasons, and had been trying to change that future for months now.

Abra had information about Savitar, and Joe had been attempting to coerce it before the multiversal bounty hunter Gypsy escorted the thief back to her Earth to stand trial for multiple murders.

"And I'm guessing she's not playing nice and letting you interrogate him?" Sara asked.

"Standing right here," replied the leather-clad woman in question, "And that was a foolish thing you did, Joe West."

"If you ever become a parent, you'll understand," Joe shot back.

"Kara, you've been awful quiet," Caitlin said.

Kara had her eyes closed and her fingers steepled, and was taking slow breaths.

"Barry?" she finally said.

"Yes?"

Her eyes snapped open, glowing a dangerous red, and she gave him a fanged scream.

"WHY IN THE NAME OF RAO DIDN'T YOU CALL ME?! I don't care how fast this guy is supposed to be, eventually he would have tried to hit me. And then he would have failed, because I can take a missile to the chest and come out fine. Then I would have be able to grab him and turn that armor of his into scrap metal. And then, because he's clearly deserving, and you know I mean that considering how leery I am of doing it, _I would have drained him like a juice box._ Boom, the problem you've been spending months on is solved within five minutes."

Barry blinked at her, stunned. Kara rubbed her eyes and sighed.

"Dammit Barry. I really like you, you're a great friend…but you're an idiot."

"You finished?" Sara asked.

"Yeah, I think so."

"Great."

Sara then walked up to Barry and smacked him in the back of his head.

"What was that for?" he asked.

"You're trying to change the future. You have me on your contacts list. I'm the captain of a ship that's also _a freaking time machine._ You tell me what that was for."

And every single member of Team Flash simultaneously smacked their foreheads

"Oh God dammit," Cisco grumbled.

"How did we not call in the time travelers?" Caitlin moaned.

"I don't even know you and I feel stupid for not calling you," said the new member, who had introduced himself as Julian.

"And since we're talking about calling, I'm going to go ahead and call someone skilled in interrogation," Sara said, "Give me and Oliver five minutes alone with our magic friend, we'll have everything you need."

"Hey," Gypsy spoke up, "I keep telling you people, no one is interrogating-"

She trailed off when both Kara and Sara gave her death glares.

An outsider would have thought that Sara's glare would be less scary than Kara's, since she did not have fangs or glowing eyes. That person would have been wrong.

"You know, I've waited this long, what's a little longer?"

"Good choice," Sara said, before asking for a phone.

"So what should I do?" asked Kara, "I could help with Savitar, if you want."

"As much as I'd like to see his reaction when you tank one of his punches, non-speedsters have a hard time just _seeing_ him," Barry said, "You might find yourself struggling to keep up."

"Besides," Sara interjected, "You have a prior appointment."

Kara started. In all the excitement, she had nearly forgotten.

"What appointment?" asked Cisco.

"She's going to get her girlfriend back."

Barry whipped his head toward Kara.

"Wait, you're gay?"

"Bi," Kara replied.

"Hot," Cisco said.

"Shut up and give me a portal."

Kara's glare had Cisco scrambling to acquiesce, leaving Gypsy, Iris, and Caitlin giggling.

"Good luck, Kara," Caitlin said.

"Knock her dead, kid," Sara added.

Kara thanked them and stepped through the portal.

As she reentered her darkened apartment, she stiffened. Something was wrong…

"Good evening, Miss Danvers," came a familiar voice.

She whirled around, then froze in utter horror.

"Or do you prefer Supergirl?"

* * *

 _Can I write a cliffhanger or what?_


	20. The Brave and the Bold

_So, I want you guys to do something before we start. Go to TV Tropes and look up 'Big Damn Heroes' and 'Roaring Rampage of Rescue'_

 _Because here's the thing about superheroes: even when they fight alone,_ **they never stand alone**

 _Find some cover, people. The hornet's nest has been well and truly kicked, and Cadmus has_ no idea _what kind of wrath has been called down._

* * *

 **Supergirl: Blood Ties**

Chapter 20

The Brave and the Bold

The warehouse didn't look like much, but it was actually a major hub for the local illicit arms trade. From handguns to assault rifles, if you wanted it, you could get it. For the right price, of course. There were even a few samples of more exotic weaponry, for the most trusted clientele.

The wall exploded inward, streams of shadow arcing everywhere like serpents and striking at anything in range. A man walked in. His clothing brought to mind that of an aristocrat, but closer inspection revealed a vest that shimmered metallically, and armored forearms and shins. A voluminous cape topped the ensemble, so black it looked to have been carved from the night sky.

One thug, originally from Gotham, privately likened it to the Bat's cape before the man thrust his hand out, a mass of shadow erupting from it and knocking him away. Similar masses of shadow continued to thrash around the man, striking at anyone who tried to attack him. In this manner, he practically walked across the warehouse and through all opposition.

Two of the criminals grabbed a pair of weapons from the exotic stash, plasma rifles that an off-worlder had been looking to part with. They fired streams of energy, but the man shifted into a swarm of dark shapes, twisting around the fire and rushing toward them. One man was knocked away by the reforming attacker, but the other was grabbed by his shirtfront.

"You look like a man in charge," Adrian growled, his fangs on full display, "I'm sure you've heard all the recent news and have guessed why I'm here. But just for the sake of clarification…

"WHERE…"

 **oOo**

The drug lab was a mess. Equipment had been broken, product was scattered everywhere, and all the men were lying on the ground in varying degrees of pain.

Guardian held one of the higher-ups of the makers against the wall as he asked his question.

"…IS…"

 **oOo**

Shanoa let a swarm of conjured bats descend upon the minions of the crime boss as she loomed over the man himself, the point of her rapier at his throat as she asked her question.

"…SUPERGIRL?"

 **oOo**

"Guardian and Shanoa both checking in," Woo spoke up, "They've hit dead ends."

J'onn suppressed a growl. It had been one week since Kara had disappeared. Alex and Lena had come to her apartment one morning to find it utterly trashed. The two had sounded the alarm, and the DEO had been scrambling for any sign of Supergirl since.

It was getting quite frustrating that nothing had been found. They'd managed to contact her friends on the other Earth, but they confirmed that Kara had been sent home. Barry had expressed concern, and J'onn had promised to call him if they found out anything.

J'onn looked over at the new person in the central hub, Lena Luthor. She was currently bent over a computer alongside Winn, ideas shooting back and forth between them.

J'onn had been reluctant to allow her onto the case, but Lena had marched up to him, looked him straight in the eye, and dared him to keep her off.

" _The woman I love is in danger. And I will help her if I have to travel to the ends of the earth."_

And they certainly needed help. Supergirl's disappearance had been a signal for just about every low-life in town to ramp up operations. He'd been out several times as the Martian Manhunter to help quell things. Shanoa and Adrian had kept to the shadows, but they'd been busy helping Guardian pick up the slack. All of them took what opportunity they could to shake down underworld bosses and contacts for any shred of evidence as to Supergirl's whereabouts.

It had gotten so bad that Alex had gone to do something he didn't think she'd do.

 _Jeremiah looked up from his book at the tapping on the cell door. He looked up, wondering what it was now. Since being transferred to another site a month back, he'd had no visitors._

 _Alex stood outside the glass, looking uncomfortable._

" _Alex…I was wondering when you would visit. Are you alright? They told me about Malverne."_

 _She waved him off._

" _I'm fine. Kara isn't."_

" _What happened?"_

 _Alex looked at him, for a brief moment looking like a lost little girl, seeking her father's help._

" _She's gone. She disappeared, and we suspect foul play."_

 _Jeremiah would be glad later to have been sitting down, because with the way his world suddenly swayed, he probably would have collapsed had he been standing._

 _When he got his bearings, he looked her straight in the eye, a serious look on his face._

" _Tell me everything."_

Jeremiah had ended up giving them several channels that Cadmus used, all but sure they were the cause. His argument had been that if it was Cadmus, the capture of Supergirl would be big news, and it would be talked about between cells.

Good idea, but while Cadmus was on the suspect list, they'd been disturbingly quiet. Even the channels hadn't dug anything of value up. If they did have Supergirl, they were keeping quiet about it.

' _Anticipation_?' J'onn thought.

He shook himself. Now was not the time for introspection. They had someone important to find.

Over at her station, Lena let off a huff of impatience and rubbed her eyes.

"Hey, if you need a minute," Winn began, but Lena shook her head.

"I have to find her."

She then noticed that Winn was staring at her oddly.

"What?"

"I'm worried too, but don't think I've noticed that you barely leave this place. When was the last time you had a proper night's sleep?"

"I can sleep when I find her."

Winn thrust his arm out, blocking her view of the computer screen.

"Lena, come on. Talk to me."

She glared at him for a moment before her face fell.

"It's guilt, okay?" she sighed, "The last thing I said to Kara was in anger. And now she's missing, and I can't get that out of my head."

She stared at him sadly.

"I don't want that to be the end, but the longer this search goes on…"

"The more that little voice in your head keeps asking where the hope is," Winn finished, "I get it, okay? She's my best friend, I'm being ripped apart with worry over here. Everyone in this room, everyone out there looking for her, they're terrified. But she needs us, so we can't stop now."

He put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"We'll find her, and then you can apologize for freaking. Then you can kiss her senseless."

Lena smiled a bit, then nodded.

"Thanks, Winn."

"It's what I'm here for."

 **oOo**

A tension hung over the city. Everyone could feel it, even if not everyone was sure of the exact cause. It would only be a matter of time before it snapped.

Televisions and computer screens all over glitched, a signal that the time had come. The symbol of Cadmus blurred into being, and everyone held their breath.

But instead of the anonymous face, a familiar one graced the screen.

" _Hello, National City_ ," Lillian Luthor said, " _It's been a while, hasn't it? I have a new message for you, and a friend to help me deliver it."_

The camera swung away, and settled on a figure knelt between two pillars. Chains wrapped around her, pinning her legs to the ground and stretching her arms to the sides.

At the DEO, silence echoed through the main room, only broken by a choked gasp from Lena.

"No…"

At her apartment, having just taken a shower, Alex rushed out the bathroom at Maggie's call. Upon staring at the TV, her towel slipped from her body. Maggie had to catch her, because her legs nearly gave out.

At Cat Co, James stared in shock at the images. In an instant, all his anger and anxiety died as he stared at the helpless figure.

"Kara…"

Supergirl had her head bowed, her hair blocking a full view of her face. Her costume was torn in several places, and she hung in the chains limply.

Lillian walked back into view, grabbing a hunk of hair and pulling her prisoner's head up.

" _Your Girl of Steel_ ," Lillian said mockingly, revealing the beaten and bruised face of Supergirl, " _Note the greenish coloration at certain points. That's Kryptonite exposure. It's in the actual shackles. Her body doesn't like the radiation. It's not enough to kill her, but it is enough to keep her nice and docile."_

"I'm going to eat her heart," Adrian growled, his fangs on display.

"I'll rip it out for you," J'onn replied, his eyes glowing red.

" _This is who you've put your faith in. This woman claimed to be your protector, that she had your best interests at heart. Now, I could go on and on about that. But the fact is, instead of a human, born and raised on this world, you chose an other-worldly protector. And your casual acceptance of the Supers opened the floodgates to all manner of invaders. This world is being choked by the toxic influence of aliens."_

Lillian let the gripped head fall, and reached into her jacket.

" _But that's not the worst part. The worst part is, Supergirl has been lying to you. She's been hiding something. She's much more dangerous than we ever imagined."_

Lillian withdrew a large and ornate knife.

" _Lovely piece, isn't it?"_ she said, holding the knife closer to the camera for inspection, _"Fine quality silver. Now here's an interesting reaction…"_

"No, she isn't…" Shanoa breathed.

Lillian plunged the knife into Supergirl's shoulder. Instead of breaking against her invulnerable skin, it sunk in deep. Smoke issued from the wound, and a sizzling sound could be heard.

Or it would have been heard, had it been audible over the scream that issued from Supergirl's throat.

But to many, the scream wasn't the most chilling part. No, that would be the fangs that erupted from her mouth. And somehow, everyone watching came to the same conclusion.

" _So_ ," Lillian said as the scream petered out into a pained croak, " _It turns out that vampires exist. It's a funny old world, isn't it?"_

She ripped the knife out, extracting another scream from her captive. Lillian then casually left her to her pain, walking across the room. The camera followed her as she walked and talked.

" _So, I've been doing some research. It turns out that the first vampires were actually aliens, ones that arrived centuries ago and integrated themselves to this world, adapting and evolving to their new environment. Atmosphere composition, magnetic fields, different types of life forms and background radiation, even environmental influences of a more…aha, mystical nature. Thusly, an alien influence with a toxic presence still being felt today. It's almost like someone gift-wrapped proof of my arguments."_

She stopped before another prisoner, a pale-skinned man chained similarly to Supergirl.

" _Although honestly, I have a hard time deciding whether this is an extraterrestrial threat or one that's been stalking man from the shadows for centuries. Little of Column A, little of Column B, but make no mistake. There are many vampires in the world today, and the myths and stories are quite accurate as to what they're like. Just ask Mr. William, here. He's been living in National City for some time, now, feeding off her people."_

She reached out, poking him in the forehead and forcing his bruised face to meet hers.

" _Consider me an agent of vengeance for humankind."_

" _You've got no idea what you're doing, you stupid bitch_ ," he croaked.

" _I think you'll find that I do_ ," Lillian said, before thrusting her knife into his heart.

His scream was long and loud, but it eventually died. As life left his body, it shriveled rapidly.

" _Not quite turning to dust_ ," she said, sweeping her hand toward the near-mummified remains, " _But not far off."_

She walked away, leaving the knife embedded in the chest of her victim, and headed back towards Supergirl.

" _And so it is here that I reassure you all_ ," she said, " _Cadmus will be here to protect humanity from all threats. Be they from the stars or from the shadows. And I assure you, the threat is there_."

Another person stepped into view, handing her a red object. She continued her trek toward Supergirl, and upon arriving, she dangled the object in front of her.

" _Hungry, young lady?"_

Supergirl picked her head up, and the second she caught sight of the blood bag, she began to writhe in her chains. She managed to lunge forward a little, but Lillian kept out of her reach, leaving her prisoner to bite at empty air.

" _Like a rabid dog. She's quite thirsty for blood, you understand. This little bag is calling to her, she can't help it. And it's a bag today, but what happens tomorrow? A drunk on the roadside that no one will miss? A little old lady, out alone at night? Will a child go missing in an area she was patrolling earlier? Will we find a corpse by the docks, throat ripped out and body drained of blood?"_

Lillian tossed the bag away, leaving Supergirl to give a hiss full of desperation.

" _Sorry, but I'm not going to be feeding your addictions. But don't worry, dear Supergirl. I won't kill you just yet. There's far more you can contribute to our cause."_

Lillian faced the camera again, a grim smile on her lips.

" _Be vigilant, humanity. Monsters can come from anywhere. They may even look human. But in the end, we will prevail against the things in the dark. And we will be there to help you. We are Cadmus, and we will save you from the monsters."_

The screens fizzled and died, the message delivered, leaving everyone watching in a state of shock.

At the DEO, silence reigned, horror writ large across everyone's faces.

Suddenly, Lena and Winn broke the silence.

" _Tá muid buaite!_ "

"YES! We got 'em!"

"Report!" J'onn called out.

"I've been extrapolating all the data on Cadmus we have," Winn explained, "Working to create something to better track them, cut through all the encryptions and data bounces. Jeremiah's data was very helpful, and so was Lena."

"I created a simple algorithm, no big deal."

"Very big deal! That algorithm was a work of art, and just what we needed! So when the psycho livestream popped up, the two of us put our skills together, gave the program a leg up."

"So where are they?" J'onn asked.

"Let me pull up a satellite feed," Lena said, "And here…we…GO!"

An image appeared on the main screen of a mountainous region.

"Hello, mother _. I see you_."

"Looks like it's an old military base," Winn said, reading off some data, "Quite a bit of open area, but most of the base is built into the mountain. Probably well-fortified."

"Then it's a good thing we're bringing a lot of muscle," J'onn said, "Woo, get Alex on the line and get her down here, tell her to bring the inter-dimensional extrapolator. I promised Mr. Allen to call him. Winn, I need everything on that base possible-"

"Actually, I'd like to borrow Winn for a bit," Lena interjected, "I'd like his help for a special project. One that'll help in the coming battle."

J'onn stared at her for a bit, his gaze piercing, before nodding.

"Speed it up as best you can. Vasquez, you handle the base intel. And someone get me Superman!"

 **oOo**

The little place in Oregon was your standard diner. The most novel thing about it was that the outside made it looked like the whole thing was built out of a giant log.

"Here you are, hon," the waitress said, "One grilled cheese."

The woman seated at the bar looked up from her musings, a little surprised.

"You okay, hon?"

"Sure…Susan," the woman said, taking a second to read the nametag, "Just lost in thought."

The waitress gave her a little smile, and then left her to her sandwich.

The woman's hair and features were covered by the hoodie she wore, as if she wanted to go unnoticed. In fact, she did.

She'd been travelling for months now, going where the wind took her. But no matter where she went, she couldn't escape the words that had been said to her.

As she wondered for the umpteenth time what to do with herself, she heard the gasps around her, and looked to see what was going on.

At the prompting of one of the customers, Susan pulled the remote to the old TV out from under the counter and turned up the volume. A news report from out of National City blared, telling all and sundry of the message given by Cadmus and the capture of Supergirl.

Horror spread over the diner as the news played Cadmus' message. When it ended, everyone exploded into chattering, the diner awash with noise.

All except for the hooded woman at the bar. The images burned in her brain. Supergirl bound and beaten, the fanged scream she gave when the knife entered her shoulder, the taunting in response to her desperation.

It was familiar. She'd suffered it too.

Her thoughts ran at a mile a minute before finally settling on something said to her long ago, the very words that had been haunting her since leaving National City.

" _We don't have to be monsters. We can be more."_

"Damn it!" she shouted, slamming her hand on the counter.

Sparks of electricity flew up from her fist, and the lights flickered ominously.

A hush to fell over the diner as everyone stared at the source of the superpowered display. The woman threw some money on the counter and got up.

"Keep the change. I got places to be."

She started to walk away, then paused and grabbed the remainder of her sandwich.

"This is really good grilled cheese."

She wolfed it down as she exited the diner and headed for the nearest power line.

"I hate feeling like I owe people…"

 **oOo**

"So what exactly am I doing?" Winn asks as Lena led him into the depths of L-Corp.

"These basement labs are where our most secret projects are undertaken," Lena explained, "You're going to help me prepare one for the raid on Cadmus."

"What are you talking about?"

"We discovered another of Lex's vaults during an audit, and I kept most of the tech inside, for repurposing towards less megalomaniacal purposes."

"You've been playing around with Lex Luthor's tech? Lena, you realize how that sounds, right?"

"I'm aware, but while Lex was insane, he wasn't stupid. There was some genuinely good stuff in there, and we've already repurposed a lot of it. Now, the thing I need your help with is a particular item. We've been using it as a platform for other pieces of tech, so most of the original weaponry has been replaced. The power generator is still intact, but has much better shielding now. Seemed the right decision to make. I also made a helmet for it. I honestly don't know why Lex didn't make one, it makes keeping track of all the various functions so much easier."

Winn started to slow down a bit.

"Lena, are you talking about what I think you're talking about?"

Lena merely grinned as she opened the final door, and Winn's eyes were drawn to the object at the center of the room. His jaw dropped.

"Is that…"

"Yes. And I know how to drive it, too."

"And you want me to-"

"Yes. And it needs to be prepped quickly."

"So you can-"

"Yes. The irony would be delicious, wouldn't it?"

Winn finally tore his eyes away and looked at Lena.

"I think I'm in love with you right now."

"You're sweet, but I have a girlfriend. Let's go rescue her."

 **oOo**

A lanky man led the way out of a glowing portal. The people who tensed up when the portal appeared relaxed, and J'onn stepped forward.

"Mr. Allen, good to meet you face to face," he said, offering his hand.

"Well met, Director J'onzz," Barry Allen replied, returning the handshake, "Kara's told me about you. I hear you're a real powerhouse."

"You'll see soon enough. Who are these, then?"

"This is my protegee, Wally West."

"Kid Flash," added the young man.

"Oliver Queen, Green Arrow," said the gruff man, offering a handshake.

"Some of my crew is stuck in repairs on the Waverider, but I brought who I could," said the white-clad woman, "This is Jax and Professor Stein, they merge to become Firestorm. Ray here controls powered armor that can fly, shrink, and shoot energy. Callsign Atom. Nate turns to steel, hence his callsign."

"Steel, I'm guessing."

"Got it in one. I'm Sara. They call me White Canary."

"Not a bad assemblage," J'onn said.

"No Mick Rory?" asked an approaching Alex.

"Felt it was a bad idea, considering how Kara's first visit to our Earth ended up," Sara said.

"Shame. I wanted to kick his ass for making my sister freak out. J'onn, Superman just showed up, but he ducked toward the receiving area when he spotted Lena."

J'onn winced and phased through floors until he reached the lower levels, and the area used for loading/unloading supplies.

Sure enough, Superman was standing like a mountain, and glaring at Lena with barely contained suspicion. Surprisingly, Winn was between them, berating the Man of Steel.

"And I don't care what you think. I trust her. More importantly, Kara trusts her. That should be enough."

"And if it isn't good enough for me?" Superman asked.

"Then that's your problem," Lena spoke up, "At least Kara is willing to look past my family name. if you aren't, we have little more to say to each other, Mr. Kent."

Superman staggered back as if slapped.

"Kara never said anything, in case you were wondering. She always referred to you as Kal. Her argument was that your secrets weren't hers to tell, and I respected that, not pressing. That said, since I wanted something to shut you up if you started being an ass about me and Kara, I did poke around for myself, using what I knew of how Kara acted in her human guise as a base. Wasn't hard to figure out from there. I imagine the only reason Lex never figured it out was due to ego. He'd never believe that someone with the power of a god would stoop to playing as a human."

Clark stared at her for a solid minute before giving a small laugh.

"Alright, color me impressed."

J'onn cleared his throat, and Winn smiled at him.

"Hey boss, project's nearly done. We just brought it to the staging area for final prep. You know, linking a comm to our system, that sort of thing."

"Let's see it," J'onn said.

Winn grinned like a maniac as he and Lena opened up the back of the small truck and revealed the fruits of their labor.

Superman choked on his breath.

"No Kryptonite weapons, so no friendly fire," Lena said, "Relax."

"Besides," Winn said, "tell me you don't want to see the look on Lillian's face when THAT rolls up to her door and starts kicking ass."

J'onn thought for a moment, then gave a dark laugh.

"I finally understand the human idiom of irony being delicious."

"Like fine wine, isn't it?" Lena grinned.

"You painted it blue," Clark said dumbly.

"I like blue. Besides, the lime green was tacky."

The lights suddenly flickered, and electricity poured from one of the fixtures, forming into the shape of a person.

"Peace!" Livewire shouted as soon as she was fully formed, her hands in the air, "I come in peace!"

"What do you want?" Winn asked.

"Believe it or not, I want to help."

"Hey, I don't believe it."

"Well, that's your problem."

Livewire looked directly as Superman, ignoring the others.

"Look, your cousin helped me out of a big jam with some mad scientist. I owe her. And when I saw her chained up and being tortured…it wasn't right. I couldn't let that go, not when I could do something about it."

Superman stared at her for a long time, the electric woman fidgeting under his gaze. Finally, he nodded.

"Alright…but if this turns out to be a trick, I'll be coming for you first."

"Not joking around today, are we?"

Livewire then noticed the truck, and the contents within.

"Holy shit, is that-"

"Indeed," Lena said, "And I'm going to be using it against my evil mother."

Livewire looked at her for a moment, then shuddered in pleasure.

"Me like."

"Me taken."

Livewire flinched back, a grimace on her face.

"Not like that!"

 **oOo**

Back upstairs, Alex was giving the visiting heroes a brief tour and explaining the situation when Barry spoke up.

"How are you holding up, though?"

Alex paused, then sighed.

"I don't have time to freak out, if that's what you're asking. When all this is over, I'll be watching Kara like a hawk out of worry, but for now…"

"I can understand that," Sara said, "And hey, at least you have a target now. That's something right?"

"Thanks for coming, by the way. All of you."

"Kara's my friend, of course I came," Barry said, with Sara nodding in agreement.

"I consider this a little repayment for the Dominators. She helped us with that insanity, it's only fair we help her when she needed it," Wally said.

"I just don't like seeing people in pain," Oliver said, "Not if they don't deserve it."

Alex looked at the others, a questioning look on her face. Professor Stein spoke up.

"After she left, Sara and Caitlin read everyone the riot act. Caitlin talked about finding your sister in a state of panic, certain that we'd turn against her before anyone even said anything. It became clear to me that anyone who was that worried about other people is hardly going out at night and preying upon them. After Sara was done, I brought up that thought."

"Made sense to me," Jax said.

"Caitlin's description reminded me of an anxiety attack," Nate said, "That was the kicker for me too."

"I just thought she was too nice to be an evil vampire," Ray shrugged, "Bottom line, she doesn't deserve to be feared or hated, no matter what Mick grumbles about."

Alex looked at Sara, asking about Mick.

"Yeah, he's still sore about not getting to fulfill his life-long dream of killing a vampire. He wouldn't listen to reason, either. Every time Kara gets brought up, he gets this look on his face, like he's being grounded. I honestly don't know what he'd do if he saw Kara again, not sure I want to know."

Alex hummed in replay, then smiled at them all.

"All the same, thank you. We'll need all the help we can get."

 **oOo**

"Talk fast, scrawny," Livewire growled, "It looks like they're about to start."

"This'll only take a second. When you turn to electricity, you can take stuff with you, right?" asked Winn.

"Yeah, otherwise I'd end up naked every time I did it. And an exhibitionist I ain't."

"What happens when what's on you is an electronic device?"

"Well, I have to be careful when I do it, or it fries. But if I am, there's no damage."

"Great, here."

Winn handed over an object that looked like an external hard drive.

"And this is…"

"You'll have the best chance of finding Cadmus' mainframe. You plug this into it, and I'll be able to remotely access it and use it as a backdoor into Cadmus' system. And once I'm in, I can unleash viruses that'll allow me to take full control. Security, communications, even their internet connection won't be safe. And as for their archives…"

Livewire laughed darkly.

"You'd be able to steal everything not nailed down."

"Including information about other Cadmus cells and bases. With your help, Cadmus won't have anywhere to hide after today."

"You can count on me, techie."

And with that, the two rejoined the others in the main room. Two squads of DEO agents stood beside the superheroes, everyone armored up. Shanoa played with a ball of fire in her hand, Green Arrow checked his bow, and Sara was in a hushed conversation with Alex and Lena. Guardian stood on the side next to Superman, talking about something, while Ray and Professor Stein did some last-minute checks on the Atom suit. Adrian had his eyes closed and was muttering something under his breath. Nate and Wally bounced on their heels, ready to begin. Jax and Barry looked resolute, and the DEO agents were much the same.

Stepping up front, J'onn got everyone's attention.

"This is a simple rescue mission, but at the same time, not that simple. The old military base that Cadmus has taken over has multiple levels, all recessed into the mountain. The outer area will be heavily defended, and satellite imagery shows multiple tanks, as well as places for gunmen on the higher walls. Sniper fire is possible, so keep your heads on a swivel when we get there."

As J'onn spoke, the main screen showed images of the base, showing off what they were in for.

"Now, we're going to be taking this in teams. Superman, Atom, Firestorm, Lena, you'll be with me. We'll be the wrecking ball. We'll bust through the outer defenses, and take care of any heavy artillery."

Lena looked determined. Superman's eyes flashed.

"Consider the tanks melted," he said.

"Glad I put in an anti-tank rocket," Lena muttered.

"Flash, Kid Flash, Adrian, and Shanoa. You four are our fastest players. You'll be a mobile reaction force. Your job is to blitz through the Cadmus agents and preventing them from forming too much resistance."

"Consider them blitzed," Flash said.

"Green Arrow and White Canary. You'll be with Shuster's squad. Steel and Guardian, you'll be with Alex's."

"Understood," Guardian said, and the others nodded.

"Livewire, did Winn tell you your part?"

"Yeah, he gave me the dingus for it."

"You'll be with Shuster's squad until we can find you an insertion point. A junction box or something similar will do. Once you've infiltrated the base and found the mainframe, seal the room to prevent anyone from stopping you. Then you can help use the security access to coordinate."

J'onn paused, taking everyone in for a moment before continuing.

"And one more thing. To all assembled forces, you are free to use whatever means you feel necessary to accomplish today's goal of crushing Cadmus and rescuing Supergirl."

"So you don't mind if I fry some of these guys?" Livewire asked.

"I've been hanging around here for some time," Shanoa interjected, "And I've come to realize that most Cadmus men are little more than racist fascists who have nothing better to do than persecute those who they deem different from them, often with deadly force. Take the appropriate action."

"So…who gives a shit, they're Nazis?"

"Yes."

"Oh good," Adrian said, his fangs glinting dangerously, "I enjoyed spilling the blood of the Nazis. They're in my top three favorite things I've killed."

The meeting done, Alex took another look around at the assembled heroes, every one of them eager for some action.

"Let's bring our girl home," she muttered.

 **oOo**

The only warning Cadmus would get was a faint whine.

Then the outer wall exploded inward. A figure emerged from the smoke, footsteps heavy and deliberate.

The figure was seven feet tall and quite wide. Metal shined everywhere, mostly blue with dark purple gloves, boots, and accents. The helmet sported glowing purple eyes, and it spoke in a distorted voice.

" _Knock knock,_ " said the revamped Luthor warsuit in a distorted voice, " _Who's there? PAIN!_ "

And then a blue and red blur flew out from behind the suit, decking several guards.

"Special delivery from justice!" called out Superman.

Then the two whirled on the nearest tank. Superman's eyes glowed, and the warsuit brought up its hands, which similarly began to glow.

The outpouring of energy slammed into the idle tank, searing and melting it until it resembled a lump of coal.

"Not bad!" Shanoa called out as the heroes poured into the compound like an angry river.

Atom and Firestorm flew over the wall, raining down energy bolts and fire balls. Twin streaks of lightning heralded the Flashes, and a swarm of bats indicated the entrance of Adrian Tepes.

The swarm fell upon a squad of soldiers. Screams could be heard from the cloud. One Cadmus man managed to stagger his way out, body covered in cuts. He whirled around, gun ready, in time to see Adrian reform and advance.

The bullet hit the elder vampire right between the eyes, and he fell back…

Only to rise back up a second later, the bullet popping out and the wound healing.

The soldier was so flabbergasted that he dropped his gun.

"How are you—"

"Fuck you, that's how."

And Adrian lunged at him with bared fangs and drank his fill before moving on.

"Pain train's coming!" shouted Steel as he bulldozed into a pair of soldiers, clotheslining them.

Suddenly, another soldier landed a hit, and actually managed to stagger him.

As Nate got his bearings back, he noticed the glowing green device embedded in his opponent's chest.

"Ah, I heard about you guys. They call your cyborg thing Metallo, yeah?"

The Metallo-cyborg didn't respond behind charging. Steel met his charge, grappling with the Kryptonite-powered man.

"You can't win. I was built to take on Superman!" the cyborg cried.

"Maybe I'm not that Man of Steel," Nate said, "But I've got something he doesn't."

"What's that?"

"A friend," said a voice from behind the cyborg, just as a hand reached around and grabbed the Kryptonite.

There was a flash, and sand poured from the chest cavity.

Nate laid out the cyborg in one punch.

"Sand?"

"Seemed appropriate," Firestorm said.

The clicks of guns interrupted their conversation, and they turned to see two more Cadmus men aiming at them. But before they could react, someone else did.

"Hi there!" Atom shouted as he gave both soldiers a resizing punch.

At other points on the battlefield, the swarm of DEO agents fired on the Cadmus men, hitting with lethal efficiency. Occasionally, an arrow joined the hailstorm of bullets.

Suddenly, another cyborg, this one much larger than his Kryptonite-powered brother, charged at one squad. The agents scattered, Green Arrow managing to hit the knee with a precision shot, but the cyborg seemed to have a high pain tolerance. He zeroed in on White Canary, no doubt deeming her an easy target due to small size and lack of apparent weaponry.

This was a mistake.

Sara took him apart, whipping out her bo staff and striking to cripple. He tried to strike back, but she practically danced around his blows and kept attacking. The staff hit the sides of his head, his joints, his stomach. Finally, she nailed him between the legs, and he buckled.

"Wait, seriously?" she asked before nailing him in the face, "Sheesh, even Ollie protects that spot. Or, he does now, anyway."

"Are you seriously bringing that up now?" Oliver asked.

"Well, considering who made it apparent to you, yeah," she replied with a smile.

The cyborg tried to stagger to his feet, only for electricity to hit him and send him toppling backward.

"Maybe save the banter for after you're sure he's down?" Livewire asked, staring at the two with a raised eyebrow.

Kid Flash shot past them toward another squad of Cadmus men coming out of the building. Deciding to try something, he raced around them in a circle, building up momentum. Finally, he skidded to a halt, throwing his arms toward the men.

His lightning trail shot forth, striking all but one. As that one cocked his gun, a bolt of blue hit him.

Kid Flash whirled around to see Livewire smirking at him.

"Not bad, kid. But maybe leave the lightning to more experienced throwers for now."

"How did you know I'm new with lightning?" he asked.

"I didn't until just now. Before, a guess."

Meanwhile, the Martian Manhunter noticed a few Cadmus men trying to start up three tanks. Calling out for Superman and Lena, he pointed toward them.

" _I got the left one_!" Lena called out, aiming one gauntlet.

A panel unfolded on the side, and a small rocket shot forth. It hit the targeted tank with a small ping. And then the tank turned into a fireball.

Superman spared a moment to whistle before speeding forward and lifting the middle tank. He flew up with it and tossed it down the mountain.

This left the third tank for J'onn, and he rushed forward, his form shifting as he flew. By the time he reached the tank, he wasn't in a humanoid form anymore.

Alex paused in her shooting and watched the large green dragon rip apart a tank.

"The hell doesn't he do that more often?" she muttered to herself.

Suddenly, Guardian's shield was next to her head, the sniper's bullet ricocheting off it.

" _Saw a glint from the window_ ," he said.

"Thanks," she replied before raising her voice, "Will someone take care of that sniper?"

A blur of red and a streak of lightning passed by before racing up the side of the building. The sniper screamed as he was pulled out of the window and sent hurtling toward the ground.

"Thank you."

Her squad wasn't the only one being menaced by sniper fire. After regrouping from the cyborg attack, there was a crack and one agent fell. Green Arrow took a second to look over the body and calculate something before nocking back an arrow and firing.

The scream from the building was music to his ears.

"Nice shot," said one agent.

"Please, this is normal for him," Sara scoffed, "You're such a show-off."

"Excuse me, who was it who just beat a cyborg senseless?" Oliver shot back.

And then he noticed something and called out for Livewire's attention. Letting the agents cover them, Oliver pried open the junction box he'd spotted.

"Your entrance, Miss Willis."

"Thanks, Greenie. See you inside."

She turned to electricity and zoomed into the junction box, surging through the wires of the base.

While electricity inside circuitry, she had a feel for where power was going. Reasoning that the mainframe would be where a lot of power would be going, she followed the wires in the direction of the most powerful current.

She finally found her target, ripping out of one monitor with a roar.

A pair of soldiers were stationed in the room as guards, but they could barely aim their guns before being fried.

Livewire turned to the other people in the room, all techs at computer stations.

"Unless you want to join them, you'll get into that corner," she said, pointing toward the far end of the room.

No one moved.

"NOW!" she shouted, sparks dancing across her form.

That got them moving, but she grabbed one and ordered him to seal the room first.

She watched him engage all the locks on the large door, correctly reasoning that the mainframe was an area that could be easily locked down in emergencies. There wasn't much left to lock, as the assault had put the whole base on high alert.

Finally, Livewire made sure the techs were too scared to interfere, and withdrew the device from her pocket. It was undamaged, as she expected.

She plugged it into the center-most computer, smiling a bit as it whirred to life. Then she touched at her ear, opening a comm channel.

"Livewire to Computer Overlord. Your little toy is in place. I repeat, your backdoor is open."

" _Acknowledged,"_ came Winn's voice, _"Let's see what goodies we can find."_

"Out of curiosity, what would you have done if my turning electric would have fried your toy?"

" _Probably just got one of the Flashes or vampires to do it."_

"Ah, makes sense."

 **oOo**

Back outside, the fighting was nearly done. All the tanks had been taken care of, and Cadmus agents had stopped trickling out of the building.

"They're probably trying to barricade themselves," Green Arrow spoke up.

"It won't help," Flash said, dropping a few captured guns, "Multiple members of our team have super-strength. The vampires can slip through cracks in walls and doors, and me and Wally can vibrate our molecules through solid objects."

"J'onn has a similar trick," Alex interjected.

" _Speaking of vampires, did anyone know she could do that_?" Guardian asked, pointing at Shanoa.

She was petting a pitch-black dog. It could have been mistaken for a Rottweiler, save for being bigger than a Great Dane and sporting three heads.

"Oh yes, her Cerberus hound," Adrian said, "Summoning is a complex branch of magic, but it's useful once learned, even if you can only have so many contracts with creatures, and thus, so many summons. She calls that one Láthir."

Lena suddenly burst out laughing.

" _Oh good Lord, you named it_ SPOT?" she gasped.

"Hades did the same with his dog, and nobody looked at him funny," Shanoa countered, "Don't listen to her, boy. You did very good today! Who's a good boy? You are! Yes you are, yes you are!"

Láthir gave a booming triple-bark, and panted happily. It would have been cute, had it not been for the blood staining his mouths.

"I swear, sometimes it feels like she loves that dog more than me," Adrian said, rolling his eyes.

"You know Kara's going to want to learn that, right?" Alex asked.

"It's an advanced trick, I was saving it for when she was at a higher skill level," Shanoa replied, "Now why are we still standing around talking?"

"May I?" Superman asked, gesturing toward the door.

" _I got to do the first breach, go right ahead_ ," Lena replied.

Superman grinned and stepped forward. The large doors were shut, and a brief look with x-ray vision showed both the measures keeping it shut and what was waiting on the other side.

But, given the amount of power in their side, it wasn't anything to be concerned about.

"Everyone stay behind me for a bit," he said, "This is going to get nuts."

He struck the doors hard, making a hole in the steel. He stuck his hands into the hole and pushed. Metal shrieked in distress as he ripped open a hole. He almost laughed at the bullets pinging away at him, shooting forth from inside.

"Why do they always try for guns?"

He stepped into the building, bullets ricocheting off his body, and a few flashes of heat vision flared forth. Several guns rapidly heated, causing their wielders to drop them in shock.

That was all the incentive needed for Atom, Green Arrow, Alex, and several DEO agents to open fire from behind his protective bulk. Within a minute, the foyer was clear.

"Okay, people, you know the drill," J'onn called out, "Spread out and take the base!"

" _Overwatch to Castle Crashers, have you breached?_ " came Winn's voice over the comms.

"Affirmative. Go, Overwatch," Alex replied.

" _Livewire's got the security cameras sewn up, I'm turning you over to her for enemy movements and heads up. Good luck, Castle Crashers."_

" _This thing on?"_ came Livewire's voice, " _Hello?"_

"We read you, Livewire," Flash immediately said, "How's it look up there?"

" _I could use a second set of eyes. Otherwise, looks like some goon masses on levels two, three, and five. Some more guys headed toward the main foyer. Armory's on level two, the group there is probably going to try and grab the bigger guns, might want to head them off."_

"Kid Flash and I can do that easy."

"I can go through vents and meet you there," Shanoa added.

"You three go ahead, the rest of us will deal with the incoming and spread from there," J'onn ordered, "I need a volunteer to back up Livewire."

"I'll head there now," Adrian said, "Livewire, where are you?"

" _Level four. See you in a few."_

The Flashes raced off, and the vampires turned to smoke, arcing toward the nearest vents. Everyone else prepared themselves for a long fight.

The group of goons was headed up by a pair of obvious cyborgs, one of which fired a burst of plasma from his hand. Superman intercepted, and Lena took the opportunity to fire back.

Shanoa whistled, and Láthir lunged forward, giving a bone-rattling growl. He was upon the second cyborg in seconds, his powerful jaws clamping down.

The other Cadmus men began to freak out at the sight, and opened fire at the dog, but the bullets had no effect.

"He's a hellhound, fools," Shanoa called, "That's not going to work."

"Don't think they're listening," Green Arrow said as he fired and pierced the knee of one Cadmus man.

Atom and Firestorm opened up on the first cyborg, who was rising back up from Lena's blast, and their combined fire brought him back down. The other Cadmus men were swiftly deal with by the DEO agents.

"That seemed quick," Sara said.

"Plenty more where they came from," Alex replied.

And in that spirit, they all set off, spreading through the base.

 **oOo**

"Another squad on level five, down the hall from the cafeteria," Livewire called out, "And that's all I can see for now."

She'd been doing this for some time, running through all the security cameras and calling out patterns of Cadmus men while searching for Supergirl. It was actually fun to watch the goons getting pasted by overwhelming force. Superman on particular was on a real tear, often letting his opponents waste their ammo before blitzing them and sending them flying.

Well, these jerks had kidnapped his family, so a little search for vengeance wasn't unexpected.

Everywhere she looked on the cameras, she could see Cadmus forces getting wrecked. Even salvaged alien weaponry wasn't slowing the good guys for very long. It had been hilarious seeing Green Arrow put a shaft down the barrel of an assault rifle and causing it to backfire spectacularly. Almost as much fun as seeing that Steel guy tank a plasma bolt and crunch the gun with one hand.

Livewire kind of wished she was back out there, but she had an important job.

A hissing from behind her make her whirl around, electricity thrumming into her hand, but she relaxed when she saw a reforming Adrian, his mist form having slipped through the cracks of the door.

"Sorry I'm late, I had to back up Canary's group."

"You should have called me, I'd have opened the door for you," she said.

"That's why I didn't. A pair of smarter soldiers were trying to enter this room," he replied, "They must have figured out their internal security had been compromised. I took care of them. Any luck finding Supergirl?"

"Not yet, but I'm mostly sticking to visual checks of cameras. I could enter the mainframe and look from there, it'd be a lot faster, but I don't want to do that while Toyman Junior is doing his stuff in case I screw him up."

"Wise move. The first step to working with a team is knowing how not to get in your partner's way."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Still doesn't get us closer to—hang on…"

Livewire had gone back to the cameras midway through the conversation, cycling through a few, and she had finally found a camera that she hadn't seen before.

"Yahtzee!"

"You found her?" Adrian said, rushing to her side and looking over her shoulder.

Sure enough, on the camera was a grainy image of a chained person.

"Give me a second to cross-reference and get a location," Livewire replied, "Comp-sci college courses don't fail me now!"

 **oOo**

Lena tossed the last Cadmus agent in the group against the wall and paused to take a breath and look at her power supplies. She was out of micro-missiles, but then she hadn't stocked too many to begin with, sure that there would be a lot of close quarters. Overall armor integrity was good, as was the forcefields, but she'd been using those sparingly. Not much call for those when regular bullets were what was being faced most today. The power core was holding steady, which was to be expected. She had yet to find anything that matched Kryptonite for the suit's needs, and while she'd improved the shielding to where she could stand next to Superman and he'd never notice, it was still a part of the warsuit that was a Lex original.

Her brother might have been crazy, but he knew his stuff.

Then Livewire's voice came over the comms, detailing Supergirl's location.

" _Whoever's closest, you have a target."_

Lena swiftly calculated her location relative to Kara's.

" _I'm two floors above,"_ she called out _, "I'm on the way."_

" _I'll join you in a bit. My squad's pinned down by some cyborgs_ ," came Flash's voice.

" _Take your time. I need a few words with mother dearest."_

And with that, Lena charged up her boot jets, twisted down, and put power to the thrusters.

She crashed through the floors before touching down on concrete, the floor cracking from the force of her impact. She quickly looked around and took stock of the room, her brain running at a mile a minute.

' _Kara still chained, will fix in a moment. Seven guards, no threat. Lillian has a knife, threat to Kara, deal with judiciously. Henshaw, didn't know he was free, charging toward me, not for long.'_

She raised her hands up, the palms glowing brightly. Her blasters sent him through the wall. Once again, Lena was glad she had swapped out the Kryptonite-based ones for another piece of alien tech that did a similar job. Kryptonite-based weaponry was good for Kryptonians, but only okay against other things, and the extra kick she got from the new blasters was better for the Cadmus cyborgs. She spared a sensor sweep in Henshaw's direction to make sure he was out, lobbing another energy burst at him as a form of double-tapping.

" _For as much effort as you put into him, he's not very good,_ " Lena said, turning her hand towards Lillian, " _Now for your own health, drop the knife."_

Lillian's face twisted into a snarl.

"How dare you! You twist one of my boy's greatest weapons against us, aiding those that that armor was built to fight? I'll see you dead for this! Where did you even get that, anyway?"

Lena paused, then chuckled darkly.

" _You know, I thought about just leaving this as a mystery man routine, letting you agonize over who did it, but I think I'd rather see the look on your face."_

A quick command released the internal latches on the helmet, and she reached up and took it off, shaking her head in the free air.

"Hi Mom. How are things?"

The knife clattered from Lillian's hand, and she stared in shock.

"L-Lena?"

"Do you like the modifications I made to the warsuit?" Lena asked casually, "The Kryptonite weapons were so dated and one-note. The current load-out is much more well-rounded. And I can't believe Lex never put in a helmet. Seems like an oversight, don't you think? Makes me wonder what else I can improve."

Lillian just kept staring, and Lena strode up to her and snapped her fingers in the woman's face, the metal clanking loudly.

"I didn't give you a stroke, did I?"

"No, but you nearly gave me a heart attack!" Lillian shouted, anger returning, "What the hell are you doing?"

"What's it look like? Kicking ass and taking names."

"You know what I mean! Why are you here attacking Cadmus?"

"Well, I was testing out the flight functionality, and I saw this place overhead and thought it would be delightful for a summer home," Lena said lightly, before her face fell and her voice dipped into a growl, "Why the fuck do you think I'm attacking your band of uber-racists?"

"Wh-"

"You can't be this thick, Mother! I'm here to help put a stop to Cadmus for good! Your actions have hurt countless, and if it takes the rest of my life, I'll see that justice is done."

"Justice? You think attacking the defenders of his world is justice?"

"Oh, don't give me that. I came here with the defenders of this world. I helped one vaporize a tank not half an hour ago! FYI, he's pretty pissed that you kidnapped his cousin."

"So you're thrown in with him," Lillian growled, "After what he did to Lex—"

"Don't start that again!" Lena shouted, wanting to slap this woman but knowing that her armored hand would break her neck, "Lex made his choices. Superman didn't force him to do anything. Lex decided to go on a rampage, Lex pulled the triggers and set off the bombs, Lex would have done a hell of a lot more if given the chance. Those deaths are on _his_ head, not Superman's!"

Lena paused, taking a breath.

"I love Lex. He's my brother, and that will never change. But the second he decided that _murder_ was the proper solution to his problems, all sympathies for him left. He deserved what he got.

"You though? I think you're even worse. At least Lex cared for people, however few in number that is. At least he cared for me. You? I don't think you've ever really cared for anyone in your life. The one person you might have went insane and you've spent the past several years trying to justify the unjustifiable. You threw yourself into a twisted cause that only hurts the innocent, and you don't care who gets in your way, even members of your family. You're sad and pathetic and empty…and hardly worth the time it takes to slap you.

"But I'm not here for you, Lillian. I'm through with you. I'm here for Kara. I'm here to take her home."

"All this, for her?" Lillian snarled, sweeping her hand toward the still half-conscious Kara, "Do you even know what kind of monster she is?"

"I'm aware of her dietary needs. Do you see this face? This is the face of me not caring."

Lena's face was flat as a table, and she mused a bit how Lillian seemed to bring her sarcasm to a higher level.

"I'm surprised you don't care. You're a smart girl, Lena. Surely you know what this means. How many people do you supposed she's snacked on behind the scenes—"

"Two. Three if you count the willing donor."

"That's what she wants you to think!"

"She didn't say anything. The aforementioned willing donor did. You're grasping at straws, you know that, right?"

"This is a threat, Lena!" Lillian shouted, "First invaders from the stars, and now creatures from the shadows? How many more threats to this world have to happen before you wake up?"

"How much more chaos and hate do you have to cause before you realize you're in the wrong?"

"Wrong? _Wrong?_ I'm not the enemy here! I'm the one trying to save mankind from the creatures that infect it! I'm trying to make a better world for humanity!"

"If a 'better world' means killing countless innocent lives, then it's _not_ a better world!" Lena shouted, "The only creature I see threatening humanity is you! And I'm here to put an end to it, once and for all."

"No, you aren't," Lillian growled, gesturing.

The guards raised their guns and took aim at Supergirl. The bound woman twitched to life and began to thrash, sensing danger. But she was still weak, and the Kryptonite-laced chains were too strong.

"Those bullets are Kryptonite. Stand down and get out of your brother's warsuit, or she dies."

"You'd just kill her anyway."

Lillian smiled darkly. Her smile flew from her face when Lena raised her hand and pointed it at her mother's head.

"She dies, you die," Lena said, her eyes dark.

"You're bluffing."

"Is it not human nature to do anything for the ones we love?"

The two women stared each other down. The room was silent save for the rattling of chains.

And then there was a wind, a blur of red, a streak of lightning. The guards suddenly found themselves missing their guns.

The Flash dropped his stolen firearms at Lena's feet. The two women gawked at him for a second.

"What? You didn't see that coming?"

And then Flash was over by Supergirl, unhooking the chains from the poles.

A sudden chill went through Lena. Over the past few days, she'd grilled Shanoa and Alex about vampirism and how it worked, for Kara in particular. She knew that Kara's Kryptonian abilities kept the worst of the vampiric instincts in check. The lack of them had led to a bout of lost control. With how much torture she'd gone through in the past several days, the odds of her not being feral by this point were lower than dirt.

"Barry, wait-"

But Flash had already gotten the majority of the chains off, no doubt intending to spirit Kara away.

Kara's eyes snapped open, glowing a hellish red. She rushed forward in a blur, free from the Kryptonite, and sank her teeth into the nearest guard's neck.

He was half-drained within a second, his fellows shouting in surprise and fear. This drew her to them, and they fell in quick succession. Some just got their throats ripped out, some got drunk from a bit, and the last was soon drained dry. No doubt the vampiric instincts were telling her to kill now, drink more when everything was dead.

"Kara, what—"

But Barry's shout drew her attention to him, and she rushed toward him, snarling with blood-soaked fangs. He dodged her charge, amazed at her speed.

"She's not in control! Get Adrian or Shanoa!" Lena shouted, "They can help calm her down, or at least force her down. Run, Barry, RUN!"

Barry ran.

Lena rushed forward, her suit enhancing her body, and she managed to grab Kara, pinning her to the ground.

"Kara, calm down! You're safe. I'm here, _mo chroí_ _,_ Lena's here."

Kara's struggles slowed. She was sniffing the air, and her growls were becoming less predatory and more confused.

"I'm here, Kara. You can come back. Come back to me, Kara. You're safe."

And then Lena heard a click.

Two things went through Lena instantly: a thought and a reaction. The thought was that there were still Kryptonite guns in play. The reaction was throwing her arm toward the sound.

 _TSEW!_

The gun fell from limp fingers. Lillian Luthor went down with it, a shocked look on her face and a smoking hole in her stomach.

Lena stared at the body for a minute, suddenly recalling a conversation from what felt like ages ago…

" _She's hurt so many people."_

" _I know."_

" _She's killed, she's ripped families apart."_

" _She has."_

" _Sometimes, I just want to rip her throat out."_

" _I think I'd be alarmingly okay with that. I'd shoot her dead myself if she ever hurt you."_

And now here it was. Her mother was dead, and Lena couldn't bring herself to care. It just didn't matter, not compared to the woman she loved, who had been put in great danger and who needed her now.

Lena shifted and wrapped Kara into a tight embrace. Kara still thrashed, but the warsuit's strength let Lena hold on.

When the struggles stopped, Lena let her go for a moment. The armor spit apart at several places, the outer shell cracking and unfolding. Lena slipped out, stretching a bit in the tight under-suit she still wore before pulling Kara back into the hug.

"You're okay, Kara. You're okay. I'm right here, and I'm not going anywhere. Not again. Never again. I love you, Kara. I'm right here with you. I love you."

Some of the red dimmed from Kara's eyes, and she slowly returned the hug.

"Leeeeeenaaaaa," she moaned, voice full of grief and need.

"I'm here for you, _mo chroí_. I'm not leaving. I love you."

"You came back…you came back…"

It would only be later that Lena realized the full significance of that whispered phrase.

Her parents left her. Her planet left her. Her step-father left her. There were others that left, she was sure.

And Lena had left her.

The difference here: _Lena came back._

* * *

 _No really, one of the supposed origins for 'Cerberus' is a Proto-Indo-European word meaning 'spotted'. Hades named his dog, the ferocious guardian of the Underworld, SPOT._

 _I couldn't make this up if I tried, people._

 _Also, just imagine a sleeker version of the Luthor warsuit from Injustice. Got it? Great. Add on the described changes, you have Lena's suit._


	21. Heartwarming

_Aftermath._

 _We're also in the home stretch, people. Only a few more chapters to go._

* * *

 **Supergirl: Blood Ties**

Chapter 21

Heartwarming

Kara groaned and screwed her eyelids tighter against the light. She felt so tired still.

She felt a hand slip into hers and felt the soft press of lips against her forehead.

"It's okay, Kara. You're safe."

Kara blinked her eyes open, and was met by a green gaze filled with warmth and love.

"Welcome back, sleepyhead."

"Lena…am I dreaming?"

Lena's light laugh sounded like music, and she gave Kara a soft kiss.

"No, you're not dreaming. But you have us a real scare, _mo chroí_ _."_

Kara tried to sit up, but winced.

"What hit me?"

"A lot."

Kara finally realized that she was in the DEO medical bay.

"How did I get here? Was I in a fight?"

Lena just looked at her sadly.

And then it finally came rushing back.

"Oh Rao…"

Lena pulled her into a tight hug.

"It's okay, Kara. You're safe now. Lillian can't hurt you. She can't hurt anyone ever again."

"She…did I—"

"No, I did. And if it meant saving you, I'd do it again."

The door to the room burst open, and Alex rushed in, shouting Kara's name and all but leaping into the group hug.

The three spent time like that, Lena and Alex pouring all their relief into the contact and Kara slowly calming down.

Something occurred to her, and she spoke up.

"Lena…I'm sorry for keeping it from you. I just…I was ashamed and scared, but you deserved to know, and—"

Lena nipped the babbling in the bud, putting her finger to Kara's lips and shushing her.

"It's alright, I understand. You are forgiven."

The three soon parted, and Alex cleared her throat and got to business, checking Kara's vitals and asking questions. Near the end of this, Barry walked in.

"Finally awake. Good. When I got Shanoa down to that room, you were already passed out. Exhaustion, I'm guessing."

Kara just blinked at Barry awkwardly.

"Barry? When did you…why are you…"

Barry just laughed.

"Your sister and J'onn called in the cavalry. I brought Wally, Oliver, Sara, Jax and Professor Stein, Ray, and Nate. Your cousin showed up, so did your friend James."

"James?" Kara asked, shocked.

"Cadmus released a video showing you captured," Alex explained, "It finally shocked his head out of his-"

"Okay, you know what, let's take it from the top. Please. I am really confused."

And so they did. Her disappearance, Lillian's gloating, Lena and Winn finally getting Cadmus' location, the troops rallying, the battle, and Lena confronting and killing Lillian.

"I knew there were Kryptonite bullets in the room, so when I heard a gun cock, I reacted," Lena said.

Kara sat back at the end of the story, stunned.

"All this, for me?"

"You sound surprised," Barry said, "I told you before. Any time, any Earth, my friend."

"But even _Livewire_?"

"Yeah, that was a twist I didn't see coming," Alex said.

"You inspire people, Kara," Lena said, holding her hand, "Is it any wonder that so many people came running when they heard you were in trouble?"

Kara couldn't help it. She started laughing.

"Thank you," she finally said, "Thank you all."

As she took a breath, Alex cleared her throat.

"I hate to dampen the mood, but there is some bad news."

"What do you mean?"

"That video Lillian released? The one that let us know she had you? She didn't just show off and torture you. She also blew the secret of vampires existing wide open."

"She what?" Kara gasped, paling considerably.

"She even killed one, live. The president hasn't made a statement yet, but people are already reacting. Winn and Vasquez have been monitoring things, and it's broken big. The news is so widespread now that we can't redact its existence like it's Area 51."

"Area 51 is real on your Earth?" asked Barry.

"J'onn's a Martian, you tell me."

"That…is both a valid point, and a disturbing one."

But Kara was already dreading the answer to her next question.

"Did…did Lillian…is my…do people know about me?"

Alex's look answered everything.

Kara started hyperventilating, and Lena lunged forward and wrapped her in a hug.

"Hey, you're okay. I'm here. We're all here. We're not going anywhere. We'll get through this together."

Kara slowly calmed down at Lena's touch and constant whispers. But the fear was still there.

"How many people see me as a monster?"

Barry scoffed.

"After all the good you've done, I don't think the response will be as bad as you think."

"Didn't stop the whole city from forgetting that after the Red Kryptonite incident," Kara shot back, "And if anything, this is even more dangerous. I don't need to be drugged to be a danger. There's a darkness in me, Barry-"

"So? There's a darkness in everyone! Take me, for example. I watched both my parents die. Both violently. Sometimes, I want to repay that violence with more violence, make someone else hurt as much as I do. That's what's buried inside me. That pain, that anger…but I don't let it control me. I use it as fuel. I use it to push me to be a better person, to be a better hero. Our darkness is a part of us, but it isn't all we are."

"He's right," Alex said, "Your vampirism isn't all you are. There is so much more to you. Hope and joy and kindness and love, enough to spread to everyone around you."

"Quite," Lena said, pulling Kara close, "You have so many people who care about you. Winning over everyone else will take time, so until then, focus on the people who matter most."

The three gave Kara big smiles, and slowly, Kara returned a smile of her own.

After some convincing, they got Kara dressed in proper clothes as opposed to hospital garb, then up and out of the room, leading her to the main area where everyone who had taken part in the battle had gathered. Kara found only sympathetic smiles and proclamations of relief, not fear or anxiety. It was comforting, knowing that all these people were worried about her.

"Finally up and about?" came Wally's question.

"Why are you holding your arm like that?" Kara asked, noting how Wally was cradling his right arm.

"Oh, while you were out, I donated a little blood for you. And fast healing aside, it still feels a little tender."

Kara blinked at the frankness on display.

"You…donated blood to me?"

"A few people here did," Nate interjected, "I'd have done the same, but with how I got my powers, we weren't sure my blood was safe. Alex said she'd take a look at Wally's before he gave it to you, so…"

"Thank you…and yes, your blood might be odd."

Kara suddenly laughed.

"I just realized, we have two men of steel in the building."

"Your friend Winn already made the joke," Nate deadpanned.

"And it was only moderately funny the first time."

Kara turned, and saw her cousin, who hurried forward and wrapped her in a hug.

" _I was worried, cousin,"_ he whispered to her in Kryptonian.

" _I am well, Kal-El. Mostly,_ " she replied in kind.

"That your alien language?" Sara asked, stepping forward, "It's pretty."

Kara broke the hug and smiled at Sara.

"I never got to thank you for that advice you gave…about Lena."

"What about Lena?" Lena asked.

"Oh, she was venting to me about your little break-up. I assume you've patched things up?"

"There are a few things to talk about still, but it looks like," Kara replied.

"Speaking of break-ups, I've been meaning to talk to you, Lena," Superman said, "Alex and Winn filled me in on the whole story. I can't say I approve of how you handled things, but I have a pretty good idea of what you and Kara mean to each other, enough to figure out that this rough patch will pass. You make her happy. That's all I can ask for. That said…"

His eyes flashed briefly.

"Break her heart again, I'll break you."

" _Kal! What the hell?"_ Kara growled in Kryptonian.

" _I meant what I said,"_ he responded in kind.

As Sara laughed at the looks on their faces, Kara rounded on her.

"I'd stop if I were you. After all, you have your own Lena to make it up to."

Sara's laughter cut off like a faucet.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"No one gives advice about romance that good unless they've been through something similar. And since you were flirting with me when we met—"

"She was what." Lena asked flatly.

"I can only conclude you haven't taken your own advice on breakups and makeups."

"I haven't the faintest idea what you-"

"Her name's Nyssa."

" _Dammit Ollie!"_

"You were the one who brought her up earlier!" Oliver smirked.

Kara crossed her arms and said "Well?"

Sara looked pained for a moment before muttering that it was complicated.

"Then do yourself a favor: find this Nyssa and simplify it."

Lena laughed and pulled Kara close.

"Well, listen to the wise matchmaker. I love it when you're bold."

Lena gave her a tender kiss, which Kara returned.

A few of the guys gave catcalls, but Kara waved her hand to say 'get lost' and kept kissing her girlfriend.

As the warmth flooded through her body, she shivered a little in pleasure. She had missed this.

Everyone started milling about, talking amongst themselves, and Kara noticed Livewire off to the side, leaning against the wall and watching everything. After softly informing Lena that she wanted to talk privately, Kara made her way over to the electric woman.

"I step into gay central or something?" Livewire asked acerbically.

"I'm bisexual, actually," Kara said.

"And that's better how?"

"Can you stop being a homophobic jerk for five minutes so we can talk?"

Livewire rolled her eyes, but nodded.

"I wanted to thank you. You stuck your neck out, went right into the arms of people who could have thrown you in prison. You put yourself out there for me. All these people, they're my friends. I'm not surprised they came to help me. Touched, but not surprised. You, I wouldn't have expected in a million years."

"Yeah, well, I caught the torture livestream. Seeing you chained up, brought up some bad memories. The mad scientist from last time."

Livewire leveled a glare at her, but it didn't seem as harsh as usual.

"I don't like you, Blondie…but I couldn't let someone else suffer like that. Just the idea felt…wrong."

"I did get through to you that last time," Kara smiled.

"Oh shut up."

"You've got more good in you than you know."

"If you're going to keep up the Pollyanna act, I'm out."

As Livewire turned to electricity and vanished, however, her face softened.

"Seriously, though. Take care of yourself. You've been through a lot."

And then she was gone.

Kara let out a slow breath.

"Well, that was a thing."

"She was a big help. She gets a pass today."

Kara turned to see James standing there. He shuffled awkwardly.

"Least, that's what J'onn said when I asked about her."

"Speaking of surprising appearances, I didn't expect you," Kara said.

James took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"I…I wanted to apologize for my recent behavior. I've been an idiot."

Kara relaxed a bit.

"What changed your mind?"

"Two things, really. After Winn told me about Malverne, I made a comment too far, and he snapped. Ranted at me, cursed me out and stormed off. That stuck with me for a bit. Winn doesn't exactly drop F-bombs willy-nilly, especially the cluster variety."

"Yeah, that would stick in your mind. What was the second thing?"

"The Cadmus video. I saw you chained up and tortured, and I couldn't breathe. For a hot second I didn't see a vampire, I saw a friend in trouble. And just the shock of that made me realize what an ass I've been these past few months. Now, I know I've got a lot to make up for, but-"

Kara cut him off with a big hug.

"It's good to have you back, James."

"Wait, just like that?"

She leaned back a bit, giving him a smile.

"I believe in my friends."

As the two parted, Kara noticed Shanoa and Adrian watching. Both vampires nodded and smiled.

Kara made her way over and asked what was going to come next.

"Vampires are out in a big way, after all."

"You let us worry about that," Adrian said, placing a calming hand on her shoulder, "There have been plans circulating amongst the oldest of us for ages about what to do if this happens. There are a few things that can be done. I've already contacted a few of my people. One of them is in Washington, and will try to meet with the president soon. You just worry about you."

Kara gave them an anxious look, but Shanoa just nodded along with her husband.

"We have this, Kara. You concentrate on your life and where to go as Supergirl. We'll handle the politics."

They seemed certain, but deep down, Kara wasn't as sure. But she nodded and left them to their own conversations.

 **oOo**

Things were rather mellow from there. Everyone was chatting, as if it were a small party.

Kara looked from Lena and Ray discussing their respective armors, to Alex laughing with Sara, to Professor Stein picking J'onn's brain about physics in outer space, to James and Oliver sharing stories, and she sighed happily.

"It's nice when everyone is together, huh?" came Barry's voice beside her.

"Yeah, we really ought to do it more often," Kara said.

"Before we got the call asking about your whereabouts, I overheard Sara trying to work out a few possible times for a girl's night. Her, Caitlin, Iris, Amaya, and both you and Felicity were brought up. She said she'd call you."

"I'll see if I can talk to her about that. Find a date."

"Speaking of dates, we haven't set one yet, but I was hoping to get your answer now."

"About what?"

"Would you like to be there when Iris and I get married?"

Kara whipped her head over to him and stared at him for a full minute, her mouth hanging open.

Just as he was about to ask if she was okay, Barry found himself all but crushed into a tight hug. A squeal of glee shot through the room, loud enough that everyone flinched.

"Ah, my ears," Winn winced.

"How do you think I feel?" Kal replied, digging a finger into his own ear.

"What's going on?" Alex shouted.

"Did you know Barry's getting married?" Kara all but shouted, a big grin on her face.

Sara snapped her fingers and said "I knew there was something I forgot to mention."

"Don't get too excited, they haven't set a date yet," Oliver said.

"I can't believe I missed a ring on Iris' finger," Kara said, "Was the proposal romantic?"

"He wrote and sang a song," Wally grinned.

"Oh Rao, Barry you sap! That's adorable! Wait, was it any good?"

"According to my sister, yes."

Kara squealed a little, and conversations shifted a little before Barry decided that they'd stayed long enough.

"Tired of getting teased already?" Oliver smirked.

"Too bad, because I don't intend to stop," Sara smiled.

"Barry, you're doomed," Jax deadpanned.

Everyone saw the Earth-1 heroes off, Kara giving Barry one last hug and telling him that she'll be at his wedding, come hell or high water.

"Considering you can fly, I doubt high water is going to be an issue," Barry chuckled as he stepped through the portal.

Kara sighed, still smiling.

"You ready to go home?" Lena asked.

"I just want to collapse on my bed and not get up for a day."

J'onn suddenly cleared his throat.

"That might be a little bit of an issue."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean your apartment is technically compromised. Lillian captured you from there, and there's no telling how many Cadmus agents she told the address to."

"I was just her, Henshaw, and a Metallo cyborg. Not the original—"

"But we still don't know if she told more. For all we know, your address could have been a company-wide memo. It's not safe for you to return."

Kara's jaw dropped, and one could almost hear her heart shattering.

"Are you telling me I can't go home?"

"If it makes you feel better, I grabbed a bunch of personal items and stored them at the DEO," Alex said, "Clothes, photos, your painting stuff. We can find you another place to live."

Kara still stood in shock. That apartment had been her home for the past few years. She'd lived and loved in that apartment. She'd become Supergirl in that apartment. It was a part of her life, and now it was gone.

"She could live with me."

Kara broke out of her spiral to look over at Lena.

"My building has excellent security, and I certainly have the space," Lena said, "There's even a balcony she can take off from, if need be."

"Are…are you serious?" Kara asked.

"Why not?" Lena replied, shrugging.

"But…after everything…all the lies…"

"Kara, I told you, you're forgiven," Lena said, pulling her close, "I told you, it's alright. You were afraid. That's understandable. But I'm here for you, Kara. Always."

Kara inhaled sharply as she looked into Lena's eyes and saw nothing but love.

"Okay," she found herself whispering.

"Oh look, U-haul lesbians," Winn laughed, and then Alex slapped the back of his head.

"You're dumb. And the relationship is hardly new."

Lena brought her into a hug.

"Welcome home, Kara."

And Kara felt warmer than she had in a long time…


	22. Shadow of Fear

_Come on, people. Did you really think we'd have no more angst?_

* * *

 **Supergirl: Blood Ties**

Chapter 22

Shadow of Fear

It took some time before she fully realized it.

It was little things that she noticed while out and about as Supergirl. People backing away a bit, or looking at her oddly. On their own, nothing particular, but taken together…

It fully hit her the day she saw a mother pull her child a little closer.

 _They were afraid of her._

When the thought had finally hit her, it felt like a bolt of lightning. A chill ran up her spine as she stared at the mother and child. She took off and flew straight up.

High up in the clouds, she took deep breaths to try and ward off the train of thought, but it was no use.

 _They were afraid of her. They knew she was a vampire, and it frightened them._

It was a haunting thought.

She shook her head and flew towards Cat Co, hoping to find distraction at work.

As she entered the bullpen, however, she heard Snapper talking about vampires.

"Way I see it," he was saying, "we ought to keep a count of them. Those blood-suckers have been hiding long enough, and we need to know who and where they are."

Kara hid a groan.

It didn't get better as the day progressed. Sure, Snapper had been giving grumpy comments about vampires ever since the secret got blown, but today, he seemed quite angry.

"All I'm saying is, these aren't the weird sparkly things that were raging away a few years ago. These are old school, grab-you-in-the-dark-and-bite-down sort of vampires. And we need to be able to protect ourselves."

This was during a meeting. The subject of vampires was brought up, an attempt to brainstorm ideas of how to present this, and Snapper had taken the ball and ran right down the field with it. Others had barely gotten a word in edge-wise as Snapper kept all but ranting.

Finally, James slammed his hand down on the desk, and silence finally fell.

"Good, that got your attention," James said, "Let's try to remember that we're the media, and we have to present an unbiased view. Snapper, we've got enough on our plate with this. Keep your paranoia to yourself. It's not helping."

"But I'm just—"

"Just mouthing off. Use your brains for a second. If this were a credible threat as opposed to the fearmongering of a bunch of already-proven racists, why are we only _now_ finding out that vampires are real? Now, I want people pounding the pavement and getting stories. We'll run a piece collecting quotes from all around National City. Let's make it a before and after thing coinciding with the president's statement. She's supposed to be doing a press conference in two days about all this."

Several people nodded, and the meeting dispersed after that. Snapper had given James one last glare before stalking off.

Kara, meanwhile, released the breath she'd been holding.

"Thanks for that, James."

"Has he been like this for long?"

"Today's been pretty noisy, but he's been making comments for a while now. If I'm being honest, it's scaring me a little."

"Hey, if he jumps on you, I got your back. Consider it owed time from me carrying an idiot ball the past several months."

Kara nodded and gave him a smile. She wondered if she should talk about her earlier realization, but shook off the thought. She needed more time to process.

 **oOo**

President Marsdin's statement had started with a simple question: Why was this even being considered a threat?

The rest of the speech was a call for common sense.

"If even half the folklore is true, then vampires have been around for a long time. Yet, they haven't caused any big trouble in hundreds of years. Vampires have been relegated to myth and fantasy since before the Salem witch trials, and they seem to have preferred it that way. If vampires had kept themselves hidden for this long, why start making trouble now?"

While she did urge caution in the wake of such a large shock, there was no reason for anyone to lose their heads. President Marsdin went on to explain that she intended to reach out to hidden vampire communities, get more information and see if something can't be worked out.

"It has been their planet too for a long time. It is only logical to find peaceful solutions if they can be found."

In the wake of this, tensions began to calm, but they didn't disappear completely.

Stories of vampires getting outed still made news, as well as stories of violence between the two groups, each fight starting in fear.

The world seemed at a delicate point, and it was hard to say where things might lead.

 **oOo**

Supergirl touched down outside the children's hospital, double-checking the time on a clock just inside the doors. As she looked, she was surprised to see someone different than she was expecting. She had visited this particular hospital a few times before, and usually, a nurse or an aide led her around for the day. This, however, was the hospital's chief of medicine, who she had briefly met on her last visit.

Entering the hospital, she took in the stoic look on the doctor's face, and something churned in her gut.

"Is something wrong, Doctor? Did the time get changed last minute or something?"

"I'm afraid there has been a change, Supergirl," he said, "The board made a decision, and given recent events and certain…developments therein, it was decided to cancel your visit."

Sometimes, Kara hated it when she was right.

"Any particular reason, if I may ask?" she asked, trying to keep her voice even.

"There was some worry about exposing the children to something they may not be ready for."

"Something they may not be ready for? These are sick children. Some of them know exactly what's wrong with them. And I believe one of my stops today was at the cancer ward. Exactly how do you believe that anything can upset them at this point?"

The man stuttered a bit, but before he was halfway through his next sentence, Supergirl cut him off.

"This is about my fangs, isn't it?"

The doctor made a choking sound.

"I'll take that as a yes."

Supergirl looked past the sputtering man and waved at a passing nurse, beckoning her over. The nurse did so, looking confused.

"I need you to do me a favor. Look up the children I was going to see today, and give them my apologies. Apparently…"

Supergirl glared at the chief of medicine for her next words.

"Some people care more about prejudices and appearances than helping sick kids feel better about their hospital stays."

Then she turned on her heel and stormed out the door, taking off into the skies.

When she had gotten enough altitude, she let the tears fall.

"Damn it…"

And she so enjoyed seeing those kids smile.

 **oOo**

The following day wasn't much better. In fact, it was far worse.

Kara had been typing up an article when there was a knock on her office door.

"Snapper wants to see you."

"Thanks Elsie, I'll be there in a bit."

Kara finished the paragraph she was on before leaving for Snapper's office.

When she got there, Snapper was at his desk, looking over something. He looked up briefly when Kara entered, then shuffled some papers to the side.

"Do you know why you're here, Danvers?"

"Not particularly," said Kara, sniffling a bit.

"See, I've been thinking about a few things, really digging deep about my beliefs and such," Snapper said, his gaze steady, "Did you know that my sister disappeared when we were kids?"

"I'm…sorry to hear that."

"It's what inspired me to get into investigative reporting. I wanted to piece things together, uncover truths. Time has given me perspective, though, and I sometimes wonder if I can really uncover everything. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"I…I'm not sure…"

Kara blinked and shook her head. There was a smell in the room, heavy and cloying. It was making her dizzy.

"What I'm getting at is that I don't like secrets. I have this drive to uncover things, and protect myself from monsters in the dark. You feeling woozy, Danvers?"

Kara grumbled and coughed. Snapper stood up and walked around the desk.

"I laced my office with garlic flowers. Ordinary people would merely find it a strong smell, but there are…certain others that would get hit harder by it."

Kara inhaled sharply, and coughed.

"I'm sorry, Snapper, I need to go. I just remembered that I have-"

Snapper's hand shot out, and Kara felt something splash onto her face.

Suddenly, she felt like she was burning. She screamed and stumbled back, making it out the office door before collapsing and clawing at her face.

She heard cries of shock. She heard Snapper shout that it was a mixture of holy water and silver powder, and how she must be a vampire. She heard James trying to restore order, and a few other people asking questions.

But at the moment, she cared a bit more about how the burning had reached her eyes.

And then a familiar bellow broke through the haze of pain.

" _WHAT THE FLYING FUCK IS GOING ON HERE?"_

The floor was silent but for Kara's whimpers of pain. Everyone quailed under the angry gaze of Cat Grant.

She peered at everyone over the rim of her sunglasses. Her gaze reached Kara, and her face softened a bit before hardening again. She took off her glasses, put them in her purse, and passed the purse to her son, who had been standing behind her and looking worried.

"Mr. Olsen, take Kara to my office and get her cleaned up. Carter, find some wet wipes and help."

Someone cleared her throat.

"I actually keep some below my desk."

"Thank you, Miss Tessmacher, that saves time."

James gathered the whimpering Kara into his arms and took her away, Carter and Eve following swiftly behind. Then Cat returned her attention to everyone else.

"Simple question. What happened?"

Several people started talking at once, but Cat just raised her hand, and everyone fell silent. She then pointed at each person in turn, asking questions and gathering data. She was a force of nature as she went around the room, piecing together the events within minutes. Finally, when the entire picture was before her, she took a deep breath, marched right up to Snapper, and slapped him across the face.

"Clear out your desk," she growled.

"What?" he gasped.

"You heard me. Clear out your desk and get out of my building."

"What are you coming after me for?" Snapper snarled, gesturing in the direction of the head office, "She's a vampire!"

And then Cat did something no one expected. She threw back her head and laughed.

"It's funny that you think I wouldn't already know," she laughed, "Or that you think I would care, given who exactly we're talking about."

When she calmed down, Cat pinned Snapper with a gaze like fire.

"That woman has worked for Cat Co for years. She's been nothing but loyal, even when it was hard for her. She has sweat blood and worked herself to the bone for this company. And through it all, she's remained one of the most positive people on the planet. You can't buy that kind of spirit."

"But…but…she drinks blood!"

"And I'd still trust her with my son, my reputation, and my life!"

"That's insane! She's a monster!"

Cat slapped Snapper again.

"No. She's Kara Danvers."

Cat spared a glance around the office, and suppressed a smile at the people who now looked ashamed for forgetting that fact in their panic. She then turned back to Snapper.

"You, on the other hand, just assaulted a woman who had done nothing to you. And if you're not out of here in five minutes, I'm calling the police."

Cat spun on her heel and started to walk to her office.

"Expect your severance check in the mail."

Cat made a beeline for her office, not looking back once. She entered swiftly and closed the door, only then allowing herself to soften.

"How is she?"

"Her skin looks raw, but we got it all off," Carter said.

"What was it, anyway?" James asked, "It seemed like water and some kind of powder."

"Holy water and silver dust. No wonder she was screaming like her face was on fire. It kind of was."

Kara was seated on the couch, looking shell-shocked.

"Kara, you don't have to worry about Snapper, I took care of him."

"I heard," Kara said softly.

She looked up at Cat sadly.

"I'm sorry for any troub-"

"Don't even finish that sentence," Cat ordered, "The only one who should be apologizing is Carr, what he did was inexcusable. And as for you…I meant every word. And I know you heard it. Ears like a bat, and all that."

Cat sat down next to Kara, picking some lint off her shirt before rubbing her shoulder, her way of showing affection.

"When the vampire thing hit the airwaves, my first thought was you. I came back to National City to help Cat Co deal with this news, make sure the real stories got out there, but also to make sure no one got hurt because of wannabe Van Helsings. And I swear to you, you have nothing to fear in this office so long as I draw breath."

Kara's expression changed to one of awe.

James cleared his throat and asked "You…knew about Kara, then?"

Cat gave him a smug grin.

"Do you really think Kara is the only vampire employed at Cat Co?"

James started, then rubbed his face tiredly.

"I miss photography. It wasn't as complicated."

"Speaking of complications, Eve, fetch Celeste from personnel," Cat ordered, "We need to address the issue of vampirism in house before making a public statement."

"Yes ma'am!"

As Eve shot out of the office, Cat turned to James.

"Come Mr. Olsen. Let's brainstorm. We need to not only work on this vampire business, but also work out a system for the two of us, now that I'm back in town and plan to stay that way. Barring anything unexpected, of course."

"You're going to stay?" asked Kara, "What about finding yourself?"

"Oh, I found myself. And I also found that I missed my old life. Kara, when you find something that makes you happy, that you feel you're meant to do…well, don't let anyone or anything stop you from doing it."

"Where's Winn, by the way?" Carter asked, "I bet him five bucks that Mom would be back here within the year."

"I know where he works now, I'll pass the message along," Kara said.

A minute later, Celeste Harker entered the room, wincing a bit at the sunlight. Cat immediately had Carter draw the shades.

"Better?"

"Much, thank you."

"It's been a long time since we've been face to face, I forgot how sensitive you were."

Celeste waved her off.

"Should I stay, or do you not need me?" Kara asked.

"Tell you what, why don't you take the rest of the day," Cat said, "You just got suckerpunched in a place that was supposed to be safe. You're entitled to a little time to recover from the trauma."

"Are you sure?"

"Kara, you're still pink," James said, "I agree with Cat. Go home, rest, snuggle with your girlfriend, and try not to worry about us. We'll handle things here."

"Might want to take a different exit, though," Celeste said, "Snapper's been ranting to anyone in earshot as he left the building, and by now, most of them know you're a vampire. Not everyone may be as accepting as the people on this floor who have known you for years."

"Can you turn into a bat?" Carter asked, "You can go out the window."

"You just want to see her do it, don't you?" Cat deadpanned.

Kara dithered a bit, but seeing no fear on Carter's face made her relax.

"I actually can, but it's super disorienting. I really don't like it. I can turn into mist, though. That's a lot nicer, for some reason."

Carter grinned at her expectantly, and Kara sighed.

"Celeste, could you lock up my office? I'll come back for my purse later tonight."

"Of course."

Kara then walked over to the balcony. She didn't even bother with opening the door, she just twisted into her mist form and slipped through the cracks.

"That is cool!" she heard Carter exclaim as she drifted away on the wind.

As Kara ducked into an alley and reformed, however, she wondered how many people shared Carter's enthusiasm.

The thought swirled in her head as she walked down the busy street. When she found herself just outside a park, her decision was made.

She sat down on a bench and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly.

And then she opened her ears.

Clark had taught her this. Letting the noise wash over her and listening to the sound of humanity. But not uncontrolled, no, letting it ebb and flow like waves on a beach. He used this to find trouble, people who needed Superman.

Kara would be using to find out if people wanted Supergirl.

So with her eyes closed, she sat, and _listened._

" _I wonder what other secrets Supergirl's been hiding?"_

" _Maybe she killed Livewire and drank her dry. We haven't seen her in a long time."_

" _I thought we could trust her…"_

" _A vampire! What the hell?"_

" _I don't know how I feel about all this…"_

" _I don't feel comfortable that she's a good influence for my daughter anymore."_

" _I bet she sneaks around at night and drinks criminals. It's not like we'd miss them, right?"_

" _What if she goes on another rampage like she did last year?"_

" _How long until she loses it and we turn on the news and see that a pile of drained corpses has been found?"_

" _I don't want to talk about that! I'm freaking out enough!"_

" _Gentlemen, I don't think this firehouse needs to associate itself with her for a while. We should take down that banner."_

" _I can't stop thinking about it. She helped me with that car wreck about a month ago. I thought she was giving the victim's leg a weird look. Was she x-raying it, or staring at the big bloody gash?"_

" _Well, now I see what Cadmus has been saying…"_

" _I've see the movies, I know how this works!"_

" _Can she hypnotize people, is that how she's been getting good press?"_

" _How could she lie to us like that? Heroes aren't supposed to lie to the people they're protecting!"_

" _How many people has she been snacking on behind our backs?"_

" _I don't have anything against her personally, but…this is a very big, very dark secret. How can we trust her again?_ "

Kara opened her eyes slowly. She took several shaky breaths, trying to calm herself.

Too late. She was already crying.

 **oOo**

"Where did you find that, anyway?" Lena asked.

"It was misfiled, but it's definitely hers," Alex replied, jostling the box slightly, "She'll be glad to have it back."

"No other missing things from her old apartment floating around, I hope?"

"Pretty sure this was the only thing left."

The two women exited the elevator and entered Lena's penthouse, spotting a familiar head of hair sitting on the couch.

"Hi Kara," Alex said, "Found something of yours."

There was no answer. Kara didn't move.

"Kara?"

The two women made their way around to the front of the couch. Kara was curled up, her cape wrapped around her. She stared into the middle distance. Alex started, gasping softly.

"Kara, what's wrong?"

Lena realized it too. Kara's eyes were red, and little lines lanced down her face, the tracks of dried tears. She sat down next to Kara, touching her shoulder.

"Kara, you're scaring me, what's wrong?"

Kara still didn't answer. Alex joined them on the couch, seating herself on Kara's other side, and the two began to speak softly, trying to coax Kara out of whatever hole she was in.

Finally, as Alex pondered aloud whether to call some of their friends, a response came.

"They hate me, Alex."

It had been at least ten minutes since this started, but Kara had finally spoken, albeit in the creaking voice of someone who had been crying for a long time.

"Who hates you?"

"Everyone," Kara croaked, her voice sounding utterly broken, "I can hear them. They're afraid of me. They don't trust me."

And in an instant, Alex understood. How could she not? It was only one of Kara's more recent nightmares come to life.

People knew that Supergirl was a vampire. And they rejected her for it.

When they were young, Alex had done everything she could to chase her little sister's nightmares away. But here, all she could do was hug the devastated young woman and let her cry herself out.

Lena hugged Kara from the other side, trying to hold back her own tears at seeing her beloved in such pain.

"It will get better, Kara. I came around, so will others. And no matter what, you are still loved. Alex and I, we love you. That will never change."

"But Lena…what am I going to do?"

Lena didn't have an answer for that.


	23. Nothing Gold Can Stay

_So, this chapter is heavy on the multiple vaguely-connected scenes. It's kind of a montage thing, takes place over a month. Keep that in mind as you read._

* * *

 **Supergirl: Blood Ties**

Chapter 23

Nothing Gold Can Stay

Supergirl had vanished.

Over a week had passed since the last sighting. Crime was starting to drift up without her help keeping the numbers down. People kept expecting to hear the whooshing of her flight, but heard nothing.

Some people smiled a bit. The vampire was gone.

Others weren't so sure…

 **oOo**

"I miss this town, sometimes."

Kara took a deep breath of the country air, tasting the scent of mountains and forest.

"Hello, Midvale. It's been awhile, hasn't it?"

"You know you're always welcome," Eliza said, coming back out onto the deck with two cups of cocoa, "And it's not like it's a big trip for you, Little Miss Supersonic Flight."

Kara snorted into her cup, and the two women spent some time in silence. Kara cast her gaze at the sunset, smiling a little. Coming back to Midvale for a recharge was a good idea.

A glint of light caught her eye, and she looked toward it. Reflecting the setting sun, a telescope stood on the other side of the deck.

"Huh. How come I didn't notice that?"

"I take it out sometimes to stargaze. You don't mind, do you?" asked Eliza.

"Not at all," Kara replied, walking over to the telescope and drifting a hand over it, "It's not like it would get much use in a city…"

Kara trailed off, lost in memories. High school, a friend who died, the mysterious circumstances surrounding it, the pull to investigate. One could argue that it was the beginning of Kara's fascination with discovering truths, but that wasn't what Kara was focusing on at the moment.

"I remember how I got this. It was Kenny's, a gift from his parents for finding his murderer. He was my friend, and I wanted to see justice done. Alex and I worked together to solve the mystery, really started to become sisters during it. Things seemed simpler back then. There was a clear villain, something we could uncover and fight."

Kara sighed.

"But I can't punch my way out of this."

A hand touched her shoulder.

"Kara, you know I'm here for you."

"And that's nice and all, Eliza, but I don't know where to go from here. The people don't want Supergirl. How do I change that?"

Eliza sighed, and led Kara back to the deck chairs. She held her adopted daughter's hand and looked straight in her eyes.

"Just being you is enough, Kara. Look, the world doesn't owe you a thing, not really. But that just means it can't judge you for trying. It's a hard truth that many forget or even twist in the wrong direction, but only you can choose who you are and what you do, especially when the world is against you. That's the difference between someone who helps others and someone who helps themselves."

"You're saying I should be Supergirl, regardless of what people think?"

"I'm saying it's your choice. It's always been your choice. So many people have chosen fear. But that's them. _Your_ choice is yours."

 **oOo**

"Lena, we need to talk about this. We need closure."

Lena sighed through her nose. But as much as she wanted to avoid this, Kara had a point. Lena did still have a few vampire nightmares, eased only by Kara's warm presence next to her upon waking.

"Okay…okay…where do we start?"

"I know you have nightmares," Kara said, "Some nights, I sleep really lightly. I feel you wake up suddenly."

Lena nodded slowly.

"I don't know if Alex told you, but after…what happened, I started having nightmares of an out-of-control vampire you. Bodies, lots of blood, the whole nine yards."

"I have an idea," Kara muttered.

They continued in that vein. All the grievances and fears concerning the vampirism were put in the open. Lena exposed her nightmares and fears, and Kara let her know that she was not alone in that fear. Kara talked about the pressure on her daily, the thirst for blood and the sound of it pumping through other people, the guilt she felt over it all.

Lena's fears of hypnosis came up, and Kara had to snort at the idea.

"Even if, for the sake of argument, I could do that, I'd never use it. The idea is disgusting to me."

"Can vampires hypnotize?" Lena asked, "Just curious."

"According to Shanoa and Adrian, there are a small handful of bloodlines that can, but it's a difficult trick to master even then. There are ways to learn it for other bloodlines, obscure magics and such, but they're difficult too. Most vampires don't bother. Adrian's father could, and regularly did, which is part of why Adrian never learned it."

"Spite or disgust?"

"Both. His old man was a piece of work," Kara replied, a grim look on her face.

And they continued on. And then Kara admitted something that she rarely admitted to anyone, even herself:

"There is so much pain and fear in me. I hear the explosion of my world echoing in the back of my mind. I feel the weight in my heart, the knowledge that my culture is dust and memories. Sometimes, I wonder how much longer I can bear it. It got worse after I got bit. It was always in the back of my mind, the hunger…and I was always terrified that I'd hurt someone. And if something happened to J'onn, or Maggie, or Winn, or Alex…or you…if something happened, and I was the cause…I'd never forgive myself."

Kara looked at Lena, her eyes welling up.

"The mere thought of something bad happening to you makes me feel like I can't breathe. I would rather kill myself than hurt you."

Lena's arms were around Kara in a millisecond.

"Don't leave me," she whispered, "Kara, you're the best thing that's ever happened to me. You mean so much that it scares me sometimes…like I'd watch the world burn if it meant you were okay…"

Kara took a shuddering breath, wrapping her arms around Lena.

"Lena, I'm scared of what happens now…there's so much fear, and I don't know what to do…"

Lena didn't know how to answer that. She just kept hugging Kara, trying to put as much warmth into the contact as she could.

 **oOo**

Kara sat at the bar, trying to drown some sorrows. She couldn't get drunk, and she was unwilling to try some of the more exotic liquors that the alien bar stocked, but the fruity drink in her hand tasted good, so it had that going for it.

She caught a flash of white out of the corner of her eye as someone sat down next to her.

"That any good?"

"Depends on your constitution, but-"

Kara stopped dead as she turned to face the woman.

"Caitlin? Is that you?"

Caitlin Snow, white of hair and looking very tired, smiled wanly.

"A lot has changed lately, and I needed to get away to process it, rediscover who I am."

"What do you mean, 'who I am'?"

"Long story. First, a strawberry sunrise, then a private table."

The two women gathered their drinks and made their way to a booth in the corner. Caitlin sat down heavily, letting out a heavy sigh. Her breath fogged before her, glittering with frost.

"Did you just exhale ice breath?" Kara asked.

"As you can probably guess, those ice powers I talked about one time? They evolved."

"Clearly. What happened?"

"Savitar happened. Don't get me wrong, the Legends team did their best, and their help was appreciated…but Savitar countered just about everything we did. And maybe I'm biased, but the worst counter was to steal me away, twist my mind and nearly kill me, all to unleash Killer Frost and get her on his side."

"Caitlin, what did he-"

"Don't ask me that!" Caitlin snapped, "Just…please, you can ask me a lot, but don't make me talk about the specifics of what he did. I can't, I just can't."

"Okay, okay," Kara said, putting her hands up placatingly, "I'm sorry. So, you're better now, right?"

"Cisco never gave up on me," Caitlin said with a small smile, "Power of friendship, and all that. I was able to throw off the Killer Frost personality and use my powers to help fight Savitar. But while I was working for him, as Killer Frost, I found out something, something the others found out soon after."

"What?"

Caitlin looked haunted as she said her next words.

"It was Barry. Savitar was a twisted alternate future Barry Allen. That's how he could fight and counter us so easily. He knew all Barry's plays, he knew where to hit us to make it hurt, and he was more experienced in his speed than Barry, having at least a decade of speedster training on him."

Kara stared at her for a moment, then slugged back some of her drink.

"Rao," she breathed, "That's messed up. Do you need my help?"

"No, we beat him…but it cost HR his life."

Kara started, remembering the funny man from her first trip to Barry's Earth, always smiling and drumming to a beat only he seemed to know.

"I'm sorry…he seemed like a good man."

"He wasn't the brightest crayon in the box, but he had heart. Iris is alive because of him."

They sipped their drinks in silence for a moment before Kara broke it.

"So what happened next?"

"We had a funeral, and then I left. I needed to figure out where to go from there, who I was. I asked Cisco to give me another inter-dimensional extrapolator so I could talk to you. Figured you might have some advice."

Kara let out a harsh breath.

"Sorry to tell you this, but I've hit a bit of a block myself."

And Kara told her about recent events. Of vampires being revealed and Supergirl being treated with suspicion. Of opening her hearing to discover what people thought, and finding nothing but fear. Of giving into despair and hanging up her cape until she could figure out where to go from there.

When she finished, Caitlin looked like she wanted to give her a hug.

"Jesus, I'm sorry, Kara."

"Alex and Lena have been helping, but…the fears aren't baseless. I'd be lying if I said I didn't have them. I feel the urge for blood all the time, and I've had a few feral episodes. It's not entirely unfounded—"

"But if it's anything like the nightmares I've had of Killer Frost taking over again, then what you feel is worse than any fear they have. I nearly killed Cisco before he could snap me out of it, I have some idea of what your nightmares must be like."

"I'm starting to wonder if Lena's one of the only people who I wouldn't hurt in a feral episode. The last one I had, at the Cadmus base, I didn't hurt her. I went after just about everyone in the room, I even tried for Barry, but Lena…for a solid minute until I came down, she was out of that armor, vulnerable…and nothing happened."

"Maybe whatever instincts you have don't deem her a target?" Caitlin asked, "Animals scent-mark their mates, maybe something similar is going on?"

"I don't think I want to test that," Kara deadpanned.

"Understandable. I don't think I can have anyone try and help me with my alternate personality, for fear that she might rise up and hurt them."

The two spent a moment in silence, the shared bond of fear from within and without between them. Suddenly, Caitlin stood up and walked to the bar, coming back with two glasses. She set one down before Kara and raised her own.

"A little toast. To monsters. And trying to get beyond them."

Kara gave her a wan smile before tapping her glass against Caitlin's.

"To getting past the fear."

They drank together, and then Kara asked if she needed a place to stay.

"Thanks but no thanks. I'll probably head back to my Earth later tonight. I'm going down a list of options, you see."

"Well, you're welcome in National City anytime."

Caitlin smiled at that, grateful.

"You should keep in touch with Iris and Sara," she said, "Sara kept talking about a ladies night with Team Flash, Team Arrow, and the Legends, and Iris seemed interested. You need more friends, Kara."

"I'll keep it in mind."

 **oOo**

"Chief, I got a bone to pick," Maggie said as she entered the office.

"How can I help, Detective Sawyer?" Chief Siegel asked.

"It's that new captain, Roland. I have a misconduct to report."

Chief Siegel raised an eyebrow, then motioned for Maggie to close the door. When she did, he steepled his fingers.

"I'm going to level with you, Sawyer. Roland's a golden boy, and his transfer to National City came from the commissioner. I don't know how far this will go, but let's hear it. You have me curious."

"I've been hearing comments from some of the other officers," Maggie said, taking a seat, "Water cooler talk. Roland's made some comments about vampires, pretty dark ones."

"Lot of negative talk going on about vampires," Siegel said, "It might have cost us Supergirl. What stands out here?"

"Other than the general violence I've heard, stuff like 'we should be hunting them down and staking them all'? I saw this personally. Vampire came in an hour after sundown last night. He was beat to heck and back, clear victim of a hate crime. Roland, though, he told the guy to get lost before he was even finished."

"Pardon?"

"Well, not in so many words, but he gave the victim a clear brush off. The second Roland was out of earshot, I swooped in and took the victim to my office. I got all the details, and spent a chunk of today tracking down the attackers with some officers I trusted. Roland somehow got word of what I was doing and why, and tried to release the punks behind my back. I caught him before he could get too far and read him the riot act, but he didn't act like he'd done anything wrong. Spat the perpetrators' party line of being attacked first. But I had an eyewitness willing to talk, and more bruises on the victim than on the perpetrators. I had to order the people in holding not to release these guys under penalty of suspension. Roland called me, and I quote, a 'fang-loving chump' and stalked off. I'm pretty sure the only reason he didn't use a stronger word is because he heard what I did to Kowalski."

Chief Siegel grimaced. Kowalski had been a cop who had harassed Maggie. One day, he took it too far, and Maggie broke his nose and threatened to do more of he touched her again. The ensuing investigation left Kowalski fired and Maggie with a reputation for not tolerating harassment of any kind.

"Is there anything else?" he asked.

"No, that's it."

The chief sighed and gave Maggie a sad look.

"Sawyer, I completely agree with you on this, but like I said, Roland was chosen by the commissioner. It's going to be hard to get him punished unless you can get a lot against him. I'd like to help, but my hands are tied."

Maggie scowled slightly, but told the chief there were no hard feelings. She resolved to get that evidence. And she knew a few people she could talk to.

As she got up to leave, the chief called her back.

"I've been meaning to ask. You've worked with her several times. Have you heard from Supergirl?"

"Not really."

Which was technically true. Kara was hardly Supergirl these days.

Chief Siegel sighed.

"Well, if you do see her, tell her that National City's finest stand behind her. She's done too much for justice to just disappear. I keep hearing many officers lament that she's not around."

"I've been hearing it too. It's a common subject around the water cooler."

"And I know a few other departments across the city, as well as practically all the fire departments, that wish she'd come back. They don't care about her diet, they just want that ball of sunshine back. You'll pass the message, yes?"

Maggie took a moment, seeing nothing but resolve and hope on the chief's face, before nodding.

"I'll do my best."

 **oOo**

Between Maggie's contacts, Winn's hacking skills, and Guardian pounding the pavement, a nice and juicy file was amassed.

The papers of evidence were mailed to Chief Siegel anonymously, and the contents were explosive. Apparently, the 'fine work' that Eric Roland had done in the past was tainted.

Misconduct, hate speech, excessive force, and more, all well hidden in the captain's past. Little things that, added together, tarnished the golden boy considerably, as well as big things that had been buried deep. But not deep enough.

Chief Siegel bypassed the commissioner and took it all straight to the mayor, who hit the roof. After blasting the commissioner for this decision, Mayor Binder publicly shamed Roland and stripped him of his ranking.

"We are National City. We have a large population of minorities, gays, and aliens. We just got rid of Cadmus, and I will not have it replaced by another movement that shuns a group of people. Bigotry and hate have no place here!"

But while the mayor's words were a rallying cry for those looking for tolerance, any cry of that would always invite an opposing point. The former captain was held up as a martyr for the anti-vampire sect, and the whole affair became embroiled in controversy.

Cat Co, of course, kept the public abreast of the events, and James would write an editorial concerning his thoughts. During it, he brought up a coworker, unnamed to protect her from any reprisal, who he had shunned for her vampirism before seeing her pain over it.

 _It took a while, but I finally saw just how upset it all made her. She was a bright spark, and wouldn't hurt a fly, and now she was being forced to drink blood to survive. The mere idea that she might hurt someone over this was horrifying to her._

 _Eventually, another coworker found out about her condition, and he attacked her for it. Seeing her on the ground, screaming at the holy water that burned her face, I saw red. I wanted to put my fist through the man's head, I was so mad. And I certainly wasn't the only one who got mad at this unprovoked act of hate. He doesn't work at Cat Co anymore. Cat Grant takes as dim a view on discrimination as I do._

 _As I see all the controversy over vampires, I can't help but see the pained look on my friend's face as she hears people spewing hate over something she can't help being. And as a black man in America, I can't help but draw a few parallels to how I and others like me have been treated in this country's history. Things are certainly better nowadays than they were fifty years ago, but all the same, how long will my friend have to suffer over this?_

 _Will this anti-vampire thing be the next anti-race or anti-alien movement, and if so, how far will it get before common sense and tolerance wins out, as it historically has?_

 _Embrace tolerance. It is the path to peace._

 **oOo**

Kara threw the paper down in disgust. Lena spared a look at it, and saw an article on a series of altercations between humans and vampires.

"Not good reading, I take it?"

"This vampire stuff is everywhere," Kara groused, "How am I supposed to figure myself out when I can't escape it?"

Lena bit her lip lightly, then slid the paper away and got Kara's attention.

"Maybe by talking about a different part of you."

"What do you mean?"

"You haven't told me much about Krypton and its culture. I'd like to know more."

"Like…"

"Like what's that thing I've seen you do with the candle?"

"It's a prayer to Rao. I wasn't being dishonest when I once told you I practiced an obscure religion. From a human standpoint, it would be obscure."

"Ah, I thought it might be a religious thing. And what do you say?"

"It's complicated, and I sometimes use different prayers."

"Maybe you could teach me. Better yet, why not teach me your language altogether?"

Kara was momentarily taken aback, but then she smiled.

"I'd be honored to teach you."

"Hang on, there isn't any part of it that needs to be done with alien vocal cords, is there?"

"No, humans are fully capable of speaking it. Although I'm fairly certain that there are a few singing notes that you can't reproduce."

"I probably should have asked earlier, then."

Kara was struck by the thought of ' _Rao, I love this woman_.'

"Tell you what," she said, "I'll teach you Kryptonian if you teach me Irish."

"Are you sure? It's a fairly complex language."

"So's Kryptonian. Bring it on."

The lessons began that day, and sure enough, both embraced their partner's language with zeal.

The real example of how good an idea this had been was when a particular phrase cropped up. After getting teased for not asking ages ago, Kara learned that _mo chroí_ _,_ which Lena called her often, meant 'my heart'. She soon began calling Lena _i zhor_ , which was the same in Kryptonian.

Seeing the smiles on Kara's face as they learned together made Lena internally crow with glee. This was partly why she had asked.

 **oOo**

"You know, you're more than welcome to fly by more often," Clark said, "I enjoy seeing you, and so does Lois."

"I'll keep it in mind," Kara replied, swirling her coffee around in her cup, "Right now, though, I need some advice."

"Eliza told me about your trip to Midvale. I was wondering when you'd come to me."

Kara threw a half-hearted glare at her cousin, but he nonchalantly sipped his coffee.

"I could trip you, you know."

"But you won't."

The two spent a moment in silence, walking through Metropolis' largest park and taking in the sunny day.

"Everyone's afraid of me," Kara said.

"Believe it or not, I do know how that feels," Clark replied.

At his cousin's questioning look, Clark continued.

"When I first arrived on the scene, there were plenty of people who didn't know what to make of me. Worried about my power, I suppose. I can bench an eighteen-wheeler, to the average person that's pretty intimidating. Lex Luthor certainly wasn't alone in questioning if I was as nice as I presented myself as. And no matter how many times I told people, including reporters, that I only wanted to help, I could always hear a few doubtful people out there."

"What did you do?"

"Nothing. Or at least, nothing different. There wasn't anything I could do. I could only keep working for good in the hopes of changing their minds. I accepted that there would always be some people who would fear me. But I couldn't let that stop me. I could show them I meant no harm through my actions. Because I believe, and I still do, that hope is stronger than fear."

"And what if I think those fears of me are right?"

"I don't think you actually believe that, Kara. See, it doesn't matter what the papers or the politicians or the whole world says about you. They don't define who you are, _you do_. By your actions, you express that definition. The truth will come out, that you are not a threat, and until then, you do what you have always done, ever since you landed on this planet. Endure."

Clark paused a moment, looking at Kara with a piercing gaze.

"You have problems, Kara, but they are not insurmountable. Ma always believed that no matter the hardships we face, there is always a plan not to get _around_ life's problems, but the promise of a way to get _through_ them. Nothing gold can stay, but when we feel lost and the darkness seems to be growing, that's when we look for new things that are golden. That's when we get to shine brighter."

He put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"You'll get through this, and you'll shine all the brighter for it."

Kara felt a smile slowly creep across her face.

" _Thank you, cousin_ ," she whispered to him in Kryptonian.

" _El Mayarah_ ," he replied, "Stronger together."

 **oOo**

A knock on the doorframe of her lab jerked Alex out of her studies, and she looked to see Lena.

"You busy?"

"Give me a second," Alex replied.

She jotted down the last of her observations, then turned back to Lena.

"What's up?"

"I wanted to ask you…you give Kara blood directly, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, I'd like to do that for her too. Thing is, I'm not sure how to approach it."

"Ah," Alex nodded, "Well first off, congratulations on taking that step. Second, you should do it like I did: spring it on her, and don't let her change the subject. If you're serious about this, don't give an inch. And keep telling her that you trust her, that's very important. She needs to hear you say it before she even thinks about biting down. And every time you do it from then on, you keep telling her that you trust her. Even after the dozens of times I've bared my neck, she still gets really antsy about it, so the declarations are important."

Lena nodded. It made sense.

"Thanks Alex."

"Hey, you're family now, it's no trouble. _El Mayarah_ , right?"

"Right. I'll broach the subject tonight after she gets back from Metropolis."

"Ah, that's why you came to me now," Alex laughed, "No chance of eavesdropping."

"Keeping birthday and Christmas presents from her is going to be a chore, that's for sure," Lena laughed back.

"Mom can hook you up with some lead wrapping if you ask."

"Noted for later."

"One more thing, about the blood…"

"Yes?" Lena asked.

"You're going to want to increase your protein and iron intake. Get an iron supplement if you have to, but that's going to be important. Trust me."

"Right," Lena nodded, "I eat pretty healthy, plenty of greens, but I suppose I should keep that in mind."

 **oOo**

 _That night…_

Lena entered the bedroom, shaking a few last drops of water from her hands. Kara sat on the bed, waiting for her. She lifted the covers up, inviting Lena in, but Lena paused a moment. Kara cocked her head, a questioning look on her face.

"Kara, I spoke with Alex earlier today…about being a more direct donor for you."

Kara paled, then shook her head.

"Lena, it's late, we can talk about that tomo-"

"She said you'd try this. I'm not letting this go any time soon, we might as well discuss it now."

Kara slumped a bit, and Lena slipped onto the bed. She yanked her girlfriend forward and gave her a gentle kiss.

"Kara, it's okay. I love you. And I want to give you this. I trust you."

"But—"

A slender finger was placed over Kara's lips, stopping the words.

"I trust you."

Kara looked at Lena's eyes. They shone with nothing but love. There was no fear in that gaze, only tenderness and trust.

It took several more attempts at redirection before Kara gave a heavy sigh.

"Are you sure you want this?"

Lena slipped the collar of her nightgown to one side, exposing her neck.

"I want to do this for you. Let me do this for you."

Kara took a deep breath to calm herself, and leaned forward. Lena's neck was an inch away. Kara felt a hand on her shoulder.

"I love you, Kara. And I trust you."

Kara closed her eyes, extended her fangs, and closed the distance.

The second the blood hit her tongue, all Kara's worries vanished.

Lena's blood was smoky and spicy, but there was an underlying sweetness. Kara shuddered a bit, the taste unlike anything she'd ever had. It was purely _Lena._

Lena was doing this for her. She was giving a part of herself to Kara. Kara felt so honored that Lena would put that much trust into her.

Lena shuddered, but not with fear or pain. The feeling of Kara drinking her blood, the gentle sucking sensation at her neck and the rush of her blood through her body, it felt soothing and invigorating in equal measure.

And she could still feel the warmth and strength of Kara's arms around her body. Still smell the jasmine in her hair.

She was being fed on by a vampire. Any other circumstance, any other woman, all there would be was fear. All Lena felt was love.

They spent a minute like that. Kara's arms around Lena, keeping her steady, and Lena clutching at Kara like a lifeline, her heart racing.

When she finished, Kara rasped her tongue over the wounds, being as gentle as possible.

"You're not hurt, are you?" she whispered, her eyes flicking between Lena's face and the wound on her neck.

Lena just pulled her closer, burying herself in Kara's warmth and scent.

"You worry far too much, _mo chroí_ ," she whispered.

Kara shuddered at Lena's husky voice, and she listened to the beat of her beloved's heart to assure herself of Lena's wellbeing.

" _I zhor_ ," she whispered.

Lena whispered affirmations of love to Kara, and Kara whispered them back. At some point, languages began to blur. English, Irish, Kryptonian, it was all the same message.

They soon fell asleep, wrapped in each other's love.

 **oOo**

Adrian finished his conversation with J'onn and began to walk away. Suddenly, a voice caught his attention, and he turned to see Kara.

"Something troubling you, Kara?" he asked.

Kara then help up her phone and tapped the screen, starting the video on it.

In the video, a man was talking in the park, standing on a box and proclaiming to all in earshot his message.

"… _and we ought cast out the unholy, least we burn with them! Should Supergirl ever reappear, we must reject her cursed presence. The Devil lives in her, sure as it does to all vampires! Why else would holy symbols harm them? It is the judgement of the Lord!"_

" _Or perhaps it is a strange distortion in the magic that flows through vampirism? A remnant of the early days?"_

The camera turned, showing Adrian striding forward.

" _But then, you know all about that, don't you? Are you not a remnant of a time when a Crusade seemed like a good idea?"_

" _And I suppose you've come to defend the soulless one, then?"_ the demagogue asked.

" _Soulless? I was not aware that dedicating one's life to the aid of others and the pursuit of justice cost one their soul."_

" _A trick, to hide her true agenda!"_

" _And that would be? Please, do enlighten me, because I'm having a hard time taking this seriously when I compare your claims to what I know of Supergirl. And frankly, I don't appear to be the only one."_

Adrian gestured toward the crowd, and continued talking.

" _You see, I know your type, good sir. Your sermon is of the fire-and-brimstone variety, which I always felt at odds with the message of love and tolerance handed down from Jesus. He was a pacifist with an open heart, anyone who actually reads the Bible could tell that, yet your speech calls for the violent rejection of all that is different. I'm sure the Apostles are spinning in their graves, as that is hardly the message they spent their lives dedicated to._

" _You know, I've spent quite a bit of time studying Supergirl. And I saw an individual who used her immense power in service of her fellow man. And despite what trials she faced or what baggage she carried, she comported herself was the utmost decorum. Unlike you, spitting your bile from your soap box. I have no doubt that she would rescue you from a fire or a car wreck, despite your little speech, because that is just who she is. She is Supergirl, and she saves people. How can anyone like that be a soulless abomination?_

" _I have met many vampires, my good man. And for the most part, they merely wish to be left alone. Your fearmongering upsets that balance. If anything, you and those who subscribe to your views will be the ones that start the fight, not any vampire. I say this with personal experience backing me, not any sort of prejudice or second-hand information. It is always good to know what you are debating about, you understand, otherwise you come off as a fool."_

" _Are you calling me a fool? Watch your words, else God will cut you down!"_

" _I think God has better things to do than listen to the ravings of someone who preaches in the middle of a park. And no, of course I wasn't calling you a fool._ This _is me calling you a fool."_

Suddenly, Adrian was in front of the man, grasping him by his shirt and lifting him up.

" _You've been spitting your anti-vampire bile in the presence of an elder vampire. You've been insulting the Girl of Steel before someone who knows her and her hardships. You've been attempting to threaten a man, his friends, and his people, when that man does not respond to well to threats._ That _is a foolish thing to be doing."_

The man sputtered, kicking his legs feebly.

" _Let me be clear on something. I have spent hundreds of years fighting true monsters from the shadows, preventing normal humans from having to fear the dark in any way I can. Supergirl does the same in the daylight. You have no right to criticize her when her intentions are pure_ , SIR. _And it is in the spirit of those intentions that I say this."_

Adrian brought the man to eye level, growling out his next words.

" _If this were anywhere else, you would not be walking away under your own power. If this were even a hundred years ago, I would be leaving you crippled for your disgusting words. But this is the modern day, a more civilized time. And it is Supergirl's city. She is my friend. I play it her way, because she would not want your blood on my hands. She is far too good. Too good for a man like you to even cast your eyes upon, let alone speak her name."_

Adrian dropped the man, then spun on his heel and began to walk away.

" _Enjoy the rest of your afternoon. And a little unsolicited advice: go home and rethink your life."_

The video ended after that, and Kara gave Adrian a smile.

"'Anti-vamp demagogue gets REKT' already has three thousand views, and climbing," she said, "You didn't have to do that, you know."

"Actually, I did," Adrian said, "Do you know what I see when I look at you?"

Kara shook her head.

"I see someone who had endured a colossal amount of pain in her life, enough to break an average person. But instead of succumbing, you have risen. In the face of despair, you carry a torch of hope. I look at you, and I see someone with a fierce will to live, to not just survive but thrive. And that is something many vampires have lost."

Adrian sighed.

"Too often I see my kind descend into depression and nihilism. Age makes cynics of us all. But you…you are so much more, Kara. Never forget that."

Adrian walked away, leaving Kara with quite a bit to chew on.

 **oOo**

Kara had the evening and the apartment to herself. Lena would be working late, so Kara decided to indulge herself in a little painting session.

She'd been fairly light in her painting time for a while now, and she was looking forward to getting back, get the creative juices flowing again.

She zoned out a little, letting the paintbrush move with little direction. She found that if she started in a sort of zen state, she could create the skeletons of images quite easily, then fill things in after finishing her trance.

The downside was that she often found herself sketching out things that were buried under the surface of her thoughts, and there was no telling what would come out. Intentional pieces like the mountain painting hanging in the main room were not common.

So it was a shock when she found herself staring at a bat-like shape silhouetted against a blood-red moon. She tried to continue, trying to make something lighter out of it, but now that it was in her head, it wouldn't leave.

The final straw was the thorny brambles around the edges of the painting, white shapes like ghosts dancing among them. The overall picture was one of darkness and depression, a far cry from her usual fare. She hadn't made something this dark since her early days in art, when Krypton was still fresh in her mind and the pictures made oozed melancholy.

Kara ended up putting her fist through the canvas.

"Dammit," she whispered, more angry at herself than the painting.

She left the little office she had made out of a spare room, leaving her painting supplies where they were, and headed to the kitchen, where she washed the wet paint off her hand.

Once she was done, she headed out to the balcony, feeling like she needed air.

It really wasn't the painting. It was more that, despite everyone supporting and encouraging her, Kara still felt a far cry from the Girl of Steel. She hadn't felt this uncomfortable in her body since her early days with vampirism, and that had felt like her initial time on Earth, when her strength was new and her senses buzzed constantly.

Looking out over the skyline, she saw the sun setting. And then she got an idea.

Ducking back into the apartment, she came back with a candle. A whispered word sent an arc of electricity between her thumb and forefinger, and she used that to light the candle.

She faced the sunset, the sky glowing red, and she let out a slow breath, trying to relax herself.

" _Rao, protect me_ ," she intoned in a quiet voice, " _Give me your strength. Grant me your grace. For I have lost my way. Light my path so that I may continue my journey. Rao, if you are willing, take this burden from me. Help me find a way, help me show them not to be afraid."_

She took a shuddering breath.

" _Oh Rao, please aid your daughter. Give her the strength to carry on…"_

 **oOo**

 _Behind the Fangs: The truth of the vampire Supergirl_

 _By Cat Grant_

 _I know what you all are thinking. Supergirl hasn't been seen in nearly a month, how am I reading this? Well, dear readers, I'm Cat Grant. I have my ways._

 _Truth be told, though, it did take some doing. I had a few secret channels, but I spent quite a bit of time trying to score this little sit-down. I got the feeling that this was a rough subject for Supergirl, and she would have a hard time talking about it. Sure enough, that feeling would end up being right on the money._

 _I sat on my office balcony, mentally preparing myself and sneaking peeks at my watch. I heard a soft whoosh behind me, and turned around expecting to see familiar red and blue. Instead, I saw an unassuming blonde woman in a tan coat and hat, taking a pair of sunglasses off and looking nervous. I freely admit, I was quite stunned for a moment. I almost didn't recognize her. She looked so_ ordinary. _But there she was, looking more like she was trying to disappear in a crowd and less like the Girl of Steel._

" _I apologize in advance if I trail off or stutter," Supergirl said, "This is…a difficult subject to talk about."_

 _We sat down, and I offered her some coffee. In no time, we got into detail about the vampire thing._

 _For starters, she wasn't always a vampire. A tiny ship from space had landed, bringing with it one of the original, alien vampires. It is now common knowledge, thanks to Lillian Luthor and a few statements by various vampire clans, that the original vampires were aliens, and their modern descendants are quite different, the product of centuries of magic-hastened evolution. And it was a similar magic that both cursed and saved Supergirl's life._

 _The original vampire strain, antithetical to sunlight, was ripping apart her solar-charged cells. Only a 'transfusion' from a vampiric bloodline more resistant to the sun had saved her, forging a balance between her alien body and the vampirism that was changing it._

" _It's not that I'm not grateful to Adrian. I wouldn't be alive if not for him. But that doesn't change the fact that I was given a great burden to bear."_

 _While the fringe benefits of magic, a speed boost, and a fancy trick with mist were nice, they hardly made up for the downsides in Supergirl's opinion._

" _I often have nightmares of losing control of myself and slaughtering people for their blood. And in my opinion, it's not unjustified. While I get all my blood from donations, thanks to some very loyal friends, I still feel the hunger. I can smell all the blood around me, even tiny amounts from simple paper cuts. I can hear the blood rushing through peoples' veins. Sometimes, it gets loud enough that I feel like I'm going mad. Even now, I can hear and smell it in you, Miss Grant. You should adjust your iron intake, your blood smells off."_

 _She was able to tell that from a nick in my hand, through a small bandage. And she has to live with that all the time._

 _To say her vampirism brings Supergirl daily pain would be an understatement. Even while she smiled and saved the day, there was always this feeling in the back of her mind. She tried to bury it, she tried to run from it, but it was always there. She compared it to being an alcoholic, her system screaming for a drink and her having to keep a tight grip on her self-control. There were few times the thirst quieted down, and those moments were very precious, in her opinion._

" _It's exhausting, and this is coming from someone who lifted a massive space station and tossed it back into space," she exclaimed, her eyes wild for a moment before she calmed down._

 _She found ways to adapt. She would suck down a bag before leaving her place of residence. She would throw herself into her work. She would pray to her god for strength._

 _Of course, the big question is, has she drank from people?_

 _The look on her face as she said yes will haunt me to my dying day. I've never seen anyone look so sad._

 _There is a caveat. She has two donors who give her blood from the source, and only when she really needs it. Their health is monitored, and she never drinks from them more than once a week. Sometimes, weeks would go by before something fresher than a bag._

" _And honestly, it was their idea. I would have been content to keep drinking solely from bags, but that's apparently not the healthiest option."_

 _The roll of her eyes at that last part was the most vibrant she had been in the entire conversation. If a reader is not moved by the implications of this, their heart is made of stone._

 _Supergirl did reluctantly admit to killing a few people for their blood. However, it was not a conscious decision. They were Cadmus men, and had been torturing her for some time. We all remember the video that revealed her as a vampire, but we only saw a brief glimpse of what it was like in their hateful clutches. By the time a united force of government agents and Superman had gotten to her, she was practically feral from the torture, acting out on pure instinct. Every Cadmus man in the room at the time ended up dead before she could be calmed down._

 _But the shocking thing is, despite their heinous treatment of her, Supergirl regrets their deaths._

" _I regret every time my fangs come out," she said, her eyes starting to tear up, "My heart aches every time blood touches my tongue. Every time I sip from a bag, knowing the people opened a vein for my sake. Every time I bite the neck of the willing donors, knowing that if I'm not careful…"_

 _She trailed off and took a shuddering breath. I have known Supergirl a long time. I used to find her on my balcony when the weight of the world was particularly heavy, wishing for some advice from a more worldly person. But I have never seen her as despondent as I did at that moment._

 _When I asked why she had gone, Supergirl merely stated that everyone was afraid. She had listened, opened her hearing to National City for their opinions of her, and what she discovered destroyed her. Fear and hatred and suspicion filled her ears, and she couldn't take it._

" _I never wanted people to fear me. I only ever wanted to make the world a better place. But listening to everyone, hearing them treat me with fear and suspicion…I wondered if a better place meant one without a Supergirl."_

 _I asked her how she felt about that, and she just looked at me with the saddest eyes I'd ever imagined and replied "Cold. I feel cold."_

 _This is the woman you have shunned, National City. A woman who did nothing but try to help, in spite of her differences. A woman who feels her heart break every time she drinks that which she needs to survive. A woman who, upon realizing that her new predatory instincts constituted a danger, did her level best to bury them deep, despite the strain it put her under._

 _An astute reader can draw the parallels between this and the Red Kryptonite incident. How the people shunned her, even when the truth of her rampage came out. But in my opinion, this is far worse._

 _She was exposed to something then, drugged out of her mind. She wasn't herself, and she could not help her actions. Fear was justified at the time, but it melted away given time and effort. This time, something made her more different than ever before, but she kept going anyway. She kept being our hero because she needed to be, because we needed her, and because it was right. And this time, the fear remains, despite cooler heads trying to argue for peace._

 _No one functions in a vacuum, and even the strongest souls can be worn by the weight of the world. If we cannot look past the differences that she tries her damnedest to fly in the face of, if we would slap away a hand freely offered in faith just because we don't like the source, than maybe we don't deserve her help. She wanted to have faith that her differences didn't matter, and we shattered that faith, buried it in a pile of baseless fears and spat on its grave._

 _And because of that, we may have forever killed one of the brightest lights any of us have ever known._

 _Supergirl is dead. Supergirl may just remain dead._ _ **And we have killed her.**_


	24. Still Standing

_And thus we come to the end of the story. I'll see you guys at the end, just…pull up some Elton John. You'll see where you need it._

* * *

 **Supergirl: Blood Ties**

Chapter 24

Still Standing

Kara slowly awoke, and her first sight was a good one, in her opinion.

Lena's face was laying on the pillow next to her. She was still sleeping, and she looked so peaceful. Kara resisted the urge to place a tender kiss on her forehead, instead watching her still-dozing girlfriend.

She loved mornings like this. Waking up next to the woman who was her heart. Kara felt blessed that Lena was in her life, like Rao had given her something extraordinary to make up for all the hardship.

Well, Kara certainly wasn't complaining if that was the case.

She also loved moments like this. Lena was often busy, and her job was stressful. Kara wouldn't begrudge her that job, she was going a lot of good. But sometimes, she felt that Lena pushed herself too hard. The moments when she let her hair down and relaxed were always to be enjoyed, when she stopped being the hard-as-nails CEO and she became her Lena.

Lena stirred a bit, and soon opened her eyes. They were bleary for a moment, but focused quickly. Lena began to chuckle.

"That's an awfully big grin" she asked, "What's got you so happy?"

"You," Kara replied, "You are so beautiful."

Lena began to outright laugh.

"God, you're such a sap."

"You love it, _i zhor."_

Lena gave Kara a peck on the cheek.

"You know I do, _mo c_ _hroí_ _._ "

Lena slipped out of the bed, stretching a bit.

"So, I want to go to that farmer's market I told you about, but other than that, our day is free," Lena said.

"Thank Rao for Sundays," Kara said.

"You can start breakfast while I get in the shower, if you want."

Lena started to walk toward the bathroom, but stopped at the door. She looked back at Kara with a sly smile, the kind filled with promise.

"Or you could join me…"

Lena sauntered away, putting an extra swing in her hips.

Kara was as still as a statue and red as a beet before she shot to her feet and followed.

 **oOo**

Kara smiled, caught up in the atmosphere. There were people all around, enjoying the pleasant weather and excited over the simplicity of fresh produce and other small goods.

Kara paid for a pair of small sweet rolls, and turned to offer Lena one. Lena, however, was a few booths down, eagerly receiving a bag filled with greens.

As Lena waked back to Kara, she laughed at her girlfriend's scowl.

"Really, Lena? Kale?"

"I happen to like it. Besides, it's good for the iron."

Kara's face fell slightly, aware of why Lena had to pay extra attention to her iron intake. Lena, however, bumped her with her hip playfully.

"Don't be like that," she whispered, "I told you, I'm happy to give it. So in a way, the kale is for both of us. You just don't have to eat it yourself."

Kara snorted, but Lena merely snatched one of the rolls.

"Come on, where's my sunshine girlfriend? No gloom today, Kara. It's too nice out."

Slowly, Kara smiled.

"Ah, there she is! I miss her when she goes away."

"You're too much sometimes, Lena," Kara laughed.

"And you're too hard on yourself sometimes."

They continued in much the same way, milling about the market and enjoying themselves.

They finally made it back to Lena's car, arms full of goods.

"Okay, that was actually fun," Kara said, "Although that one guy who shoved garlic in my face wasn't."

"He had no idea you were a vampire, and he apologized for it," Lena replied, "Salesmen get excited sometimes, it happens."

They drove back home under a cloud of warmth and laughter, but that laughter suddenly stopped during the elevator ride up, when Kara began to hear something.

Lena got off the elevator, oblivious to Kara's sudden shift in mood, at least until Kara yanked her girlfriend behind her.

"I hear people in the apartment."

Lena stiffened, and Kara grasped the doorknob.

"I'll go in, you call Alex and Maggie."

"Uh, Kara…"

But Kara was already focused on the upcoming fight. She felt her fangs slip out of their sheaths, but she let them. If it meant Lena would be safe, she'd use whatever she could.

Quick as a flash, she threw open the door, fists raised and fangs ready.

"SURPRISE!"

And then everyone stood still for a moment, taking in the sight of Kara looking ready to throw down.

"Told you this would happen," Shanoa said.

"Oh shut up," James shot back.

Kara blinked in shock. The penthouse was filled with people. Alex, Maggie, Winn, James, J'onn, Shanoa, Eliza, even Adrian and Clark.

Kara felt Lena's hand at her shoulder, and she relaxed at the touch.

"Kara, easy. You're among friends," she said.

"What is all this?" Kara asked, her fangs retracting.

"You've been in such a funk lately, we all decided to throw this little get together, cheer you up," Alex explained.

"Tried to get Barry in on this, but I couldn't reach him and his crew," Winn said, "Same with Sara. But hey, everyone else is here!"

Kara cast her gaze around the room. Snacks and drinks in the kitchen, a big banner reading 'We Love Kara', and all her friends gathered together.

"All this for me?"

"Honestly, it was Lena's idea," Clark said, "She pulled all the strings, and got you out of the house so we could prepare."

"Speaking of, will one of you strapping men help me put these bags away?" Lena asked.

As James and Adrian moved to assist her, Eliza stepped forward to give Kara a hug.

"You needed some light in your life, Kara, so everyone brought a candle."

Kara laughed lightly, touched.

The little party swung into gear from there. Everyone helped themselves to drinks and conversation. Kara was mostly the center of attention. She was the subject of hugs, easy touches, good-natured jostling, and plenty of conversation. She found herself smiling for long periods.

The vampirism did get brought up, but only in bad jokes that Kara couldn't help but laugh at. And then Clark revealed some news from Metropolis. A band of serial killers had recently been apprehended, and much of the efforts could be laid at the feet of the Metropolis vampire community.

"A spokesperson came to talk to Dan Turpin, bringing all sorts of intel," he said, "We wouldn't have caught the band in time without just about every vampire in Metropolis stalking the shadows. There wasn't anywhere for the killers to hide."

"That's crazy awesome," Winn said.

"Is this common knowledge?" James asked.

"I wrote an article, and from the comments we've gotten in for the editorial pages, the vampires are being given nothing but praise for their part in things," Clark said, "I feel like working with the mayor to hammer out a statement, but I kind of wanted Adrian's advice first. You said you were a big deal among vampires communities."

"Indeed," Adrian said, "My family is afforded great respect. I'll be happy to help you. I never thought I'd see the day when vampires could start to safely live in the light…figuratively speaking of course, the number of bloodlines that aren't sun-resistant outweighs those that are."

"I've been wondering about that," Lena said, "A lot of the vampires getting talked about in the news seem to be able to go out in the day. I'm guessing the ones that aren't—"

"Don't like to show themselves to humans unless they have to," Shanoa nodded, "It's kind of a dead giveaway that something is weird about you when your skin blisters and smokes in the sun."

"Ick," Kara said.

"New subject, enjoying having a rich girlfriend, Kara?" Maggie asked, a Cheshire grin on her face.

"You're just jealous because I have a bathtub," Kara replied, sticking her tongue out.

"I bet that gets a lot of use."

The way Maggie grinned made Kara blush. Lena's next comment didn't help.

"Oh, in several ways. Would you like tips?"

"LENA! My mother is _right there!"_

"Oh please," Eliza deadpanned, taking a casual sip of her drink, "You underestimate how jaded raising an alien daughter has made me. I'm fully aware just how healthy my children's relationships are."

Kara sputtered, but Eliza ignored her and turned to Lena.

"Does she still float in her sleep?"

"I sometimes wake up to find her a few inches off the mattress, yes," Lena said, "It was a little jarring the first time."

"I know how you feel," Shanoa said, "I found out in a similar way that Adrian doesn't necessarily need to turn into a bat to fly."

"You can just hover like Superman?" James asked.

Adrian rose up about an inch, a smug look on his face.

"I can't go particularly fast, though. It's more like levitation than flight."

"Still cool," Winn piped up.

"Hey, I don't mind not having a monopoly on it," Clark said.

Conversation continued, until Lena revealed another piece of the night, several Disney movies.

"Where did you get these?" Kara asked, trying and failing to hide her excitement.

"Do you remember ever meeting Samantha Arias? My CFO?"

Kara stared at her blankly.

"Tall, dark hair, Cuban? Might have mentioned her daughter, Ruby?"

"Oh, yeah!" Kara said, snapping her fingers, "I think I do remember her. She and I met briefly a few weeks ago. She was walking to your office and talking to her daughter on the phone about something. You had accidently crossed your schedule and had to take a raincheck on lunch."

"Right, well she knows I have a girlfriend who's a musical fan, so I asked if she had any I could borrow. Apparently, Ruby yanked a few from their collection that met with her approval."

"She's got good taste, then. These are some good ones. Not, you know, _Wizard of Oz_ good, but…"

"Kara, what are you smoking?" Maggie asked, " _Frozen_ is a work of art."

A few people started staring at her.

"Don't judge me."

Everyone settled down to watch. There was of course the standard comments between friends watching something together. Maggie defended _Frozen_ to the hilt, and threatened to slug Winn if he butchered 'Let it Go' any more. Clark revealed some fond memories of _Cinderella_. Lena mentioned watching _Robin Hood_ with Lex as a child, citing it as her first Disney movie and talking about how they'd had to sneak it around their mother, who always cited Disney as too childish.

"I figured out she was full of it when I saw Mufasa's death."

"Yeah, that's a tearjerker," James replied.

But it was during _Moana_ that something struck Kara, something that she would later be embarrassed it took so long for her to realize.

For so long, she had been afraid. She had been running from the shadow of her vampirism, forced to accept parts of it in order to continue. One of her nightmares had come to life, and she had been exposed as a vampire. She could barely come to terms with herself, and now she was hated and feared for something she had no control over. She didn't know what the future held for her, what future she could have outside of a few pieces like Alex and Lena, and she was terrified of that.

But there was so much love in the room.

Clark, her strong but dorky cousin, who inspired her to do right with her life and use whatever tools she had in order to do so.

Adrian, who saved her life for no other reason than that it was right, and continued to vouch for her goodness.

Eliza, her mother, who took in a lost girl from the stars and made her family.

Shanoa, who taught her that there could be light in the dark, even if she couldn't always see it.

Maggie, a steadfast friend who brought joy to her family in many respects.

James, who was thought lost, but returned to absolve his sins and make up for himself, protecting her.

Winn, her best friend, and a more loyal soul than one could believe.

Alex, her sister who she could never imagine life without, who had stood by her in her darkest hours.

And Lena… _Lena…_ Lena, who was her heart, her world…Lena, who accepted her with all her strength and weakness…Lena, who was not afraid of the dark…Lena, who she loved like nothing else before and likely would never love like in the future…

This was her family…her home…her light…

Rao had given her such a powerful blessing in them. She was accepted by them, for all her differences and demons.

She was not the last daughter of a dead world here. She was not a vampire here. She was neither hero nor monster here.

She was _KARA_. That was all that mattered.

And no force in the multiverse could take that away.

The thought made her feel warm.

And as Moana had her own epiphany, as she accepted her scars and her passions, as she marveled at how far she had come, as she accepted that the call she'd always felt wasn't to the sea but to who she was and could be, everything became crystal clear for Kara.

And the diamond formed from the pressure of her life was more beautiful than she ever imagined.

Tears started to slip down her face, and she made little hiccupping sounds. Snuggled next to her, Lena was the first to notice.

"Kara? Kara, what's wrong?"

"I get it," Kara whispered, "I get it."

"You get what?"

The others joined in their questioning, but all Kara would say was "I get it now" and "There is so much love here" in between exaltations to Rao in her mother tongue.

When she finally calmed down, she gave Lena a tender kiss before rising.

"I just had an epiphany. Everything just crystalized."

She began to pace as she spoke, detailing her train of thought and the conclusions therein. She grew more animated as she went, her voice rising and her hands gesturing wildly.

"I finally get it, all of it! I don't need the world's permission, and I don't need to fear any monsters from inside. I have you all. That makes me more powerful than anything the universe can throw at me. I have a light that can never be extinguished, not even in the face of the darkest parts of vampirism!"

She strode towards the balcony and yanked open the doors. The sun had set during their little marathon, and the night air breezed in as she basked in the glow of the city and the stars.

"I am Kara Danvers, Kara Zor-El!" she exclaimed, "I hear the call, and I know where my path is!"

She finally calmed, taking a minute to breathe in the night air. She felt freer than she had in nearly a year.

And then she turned back to them, fire in her eyes and a grin on face.

"Winn…I need a new suit."

The apartment is dead silent for a moment. And then it exploded into cheers.

 **oOo**

 _One week later…_

Maggie hated days like this.

She stood with the police outside the bank. The gang of thieves had barricaded themselves in and had taken hostages. There was no attempt to communicate yet, and Maggie had a sinking feeling that they were not in a bargaining mood. And between the hostages and the high-powered weapons the criminals were toting, the police didn't dare breach.

As she let out an angry breath, she heard a throat clear behind her. She turned to see a man she recognized as a rookie.

"Detective, what's our play?"

Maggie was about to answer when she spotted something. A flash of color was headed down the street, right in their direction.

A smile graced her face.

"Sit back, kid. You're in for a show."

Inside the bank, the hostages were confined to a corner. Two men watched over them, while three more packed up as much money as they could carry. Another three were arrayed around the lobby, keeping an eye on the outside through their barricades.

The only sound was the whimpers of the hostages, the thumping of the gang's boots, and the Elton John song being piped over the bank's speakers, the upbeat piano music doing nothing to calm anyone's nerves.

Suddenly, the shafts of light from between the barricades winked out. One gunman took a peek and grunted in confusion.

"Fog?"

There was a groaning sound, and the barricade over one door suddenly blasted apart. A massive cloud surged into the bank. The men scattered and backed up to avoid the cloud, which stopped suddenly and churned dangerously.

Then, it shrunk down, becoming a little bigger than a person.

And a figure strode out of the cloud like the sun out of a misty morning.

Her hair was blonde, her blue eyes were narrowed. A cape of deep red hung off her shoulders, draped around her form like a cloak. Through the gap could be seen red boots, blue tights and top, a long red skirt that just touched the knees, a belt of black with a red stone in the center, and a familiar symbol, etched in red on a field of black.

"Holy shit," one gunman gasped.

The woman suddenly cocked her head, staring up at the ceiling in response to the music.

 _And don't you know I'm still standing better than I ever did?  
Looking like a true survivor, feeling like a little kid!  
And I'm still standing after all this time!  
Picking up the pieces of my life without you on my mind!_

"That is very fitting," Supergirl said, and then she was a blur of motion.

She crashed into the first gunman, sending him flying, then whipped around to another and hurled a bolt of lightning, which sent him to the ground, twitching and gasping.

 _I'm still standing! Yeah, yeah, yeah!_

She surged towards the third wrapped in mist, his bullets passing right through her like a ghost. She grabbed him by the collar and hurled him toward the wall, where he crashed and slumped down limply.

 _I'm still standing! Yeah, yeah, yeah!_

The other three in the vault came out to see the commotion in time to see her dive at the two guarding the hostages and slam their heads together. She whipped her head over to them, her eyes glowing a solid red.

They opened fire, but she caught every single bullet, holding them in her hands before letting them slips through her fingers and pile at her feet.

"My turn," she snarled with her fangs on full display.

She rushed them, tackling the middle head on and bringing him to the ground before dispatching him with a punch. The second wielded his gun like a club and tried to smack her, but she caught it without even looking and used it as leverage to bring him closer. She spun him to her front and hissed in his face. He screamed, and his scream was silenced by a headbutt.

She turned toward the final gang member and began to stalk toward him.

He dropped his gun and backed up hurriedly, tripping in his haste and continuing to crawl backward. She soon loomed over him, the light behind her causing her face to be cast in shadow save her glowing eyes.

He threw his hands up defensively and screamed _"Don't eat me!"_

There was a pause, and then a hand gripped him and pulled him to his feet.

Supergirl fixed his jacket, dusted off his shoulders, looked him straight in the eye, and said "I don't eat junk food."

He stared at her. She pointed to the side and told him to go stand in the corner. He nodded dumbly and started to walk.

"Wait."

He flinched.

"On second thought, go to the bathroom and clean yourself up."

He shifted his pelvis a bit and nodded before heading off in that direction.

Supergirl watched him go, then looked over at the hostages. She stared at them for a bit before smiling lightly.

"No injuries, that's good…I need a drink."

Several people stiffened, but Supergirl paid them no mind, looking around the room before her eyes settled on a table advertising loans and other bank services. She chirped at the sight of a few water bottles, and she casually strode over and cracked one open, drinking down a third of it before speaking up again.

"New suit's a bit warmer than the old one. Still getting used to it," she said aloud.

A little girl edged out from the rest of the group, despite the silent protests of her mother.

"Supergirl?"

She turned with smile.

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"Are you back?"

Supergirl chuckled before striding over and kneeling down to look the little girl in the eye.

"I'm here, aren't I?"

The girl lunged forward and wrapped her arms around Supergirl's neck.

"I knew you'd come back," she whispered.

Kara felt a warmth in her heart as she returned the girl's hug.

"Nice to be back."

"I like your new cape."

"Oh, thank you," Kara laughed, before breaking the hug, "Now run back to your mother, okay?"

The little girl darted back into throng, and Supergirl finished her water before throwing it into the nearest trashcan with all the grace of a basketball player.

"Two points," she quipped, before turning back to the people, "Do me a favor, tell the cops about the schmuck in the bathroom. I've got places to be, dramatic entrances to make. Have a nice afternoon!"

And she walked over to the door, humming and putting a dance in her step.

" _I'm still standing! Yeah, yeah, yeah!"_

She sang as she flung open the door and stepped into the daylight, taking in the stunned expressions of the police and the amused look on Maggie's face.

" _I'm still standing! Yeah, yeah, yeah!"_

She launched herself into the air with a spinning flourish, basking in the cheers from the cops.

"Alright, SG!"

"Way to come in swinging!"

"Good to have you back, Supergirl!"

" _I'm still standing! Yeah, yeah, yeah!"_ she sang as she flew down the street, reveling in the day, _"I'm still standing! Yeah, yeah, yeah!"_

 **oOo**

Kara smiled at proposed art for the latest Cat Co Magazine. Supergirl had stuck around after helping get a cat out of a tree, and James Olsen had been nearby and snapped a picture of the hero, the cat, and the small boy who owned it.

The smile on Supergirl's face could have lit the entirety of National City.

"Well, someone's finally crawled out of hiding," came Cat's voice from behind her.

"I guess Supergirl just needed some time to process things," Kara said lightly.

Cat gave her a look that said 'you're not fooling anyone' before touching her old assistant's arm lightly.

"Good to see you smiling again," she whispered, before going off to pester a few reporters.

Kara looked back at the image of Supergirl with a smile, lightly touching her chest where her symbol lay beneath her clothes.

"Good to be smiling again," she whispered.

She stopped at a park on the way home, sat on a bench, and opened her hearing.

After the article wherein Cat tore strips off the public for their rejection of Supergirl, a lot of people had had an 'Oh God, what have I done?' epiphany. Public opinion on Supergirl shifted overnight. There had been a number of holdouts, but if the letters being sent in to Cat Co apologizing to Supergirl were any indication, a large number of people were in James' position of having realized they'd been idiots and trying to make amends.

Kara hadn't known what to make of that at first. The reversal of opinions had been too jarring. But as more letters poured in, the idea that people might want Supergirl back started to take root in her.

In hindsight, that had probably helped lead to her earlier epiphany, but for some reason, it paled in comparison to the love from her family, at least in her mind.

Now, she wanted to check something.

As more and more positive voices hit her ears, more people expressing joy that Supergirl had returned, Kara smiled.

"Very good to be smiling again," she whispered.

 **oOo**

Kara and Lena stood in the penthouse balcony, watching the sun set.

"So what do you think is next?" Lena asked.

"I don't know," Kara said, wrapping her arm around Lena's shoulders, "But for the first time in a long time, I'm not afraid of the future."

Lena snuggled into the embrace, relishing the warmth.

"Besides," Kara continued, "I know that wherever I go, no matter how crazy things get, I am so loved. And that's what will keep me going."

Kara leaned over and captured Lena's lips with her own.

"Mmm. I like this outlook of yours," Lena said, "And likewise."

They laughed together for a moment before returning to the sunset.

The future was in question. There were still a lot of people afraid of vampires, and of Supergirl. Cadmus was gone, but the anti-alien sentiment was still there. There would be new threats on the horizon. Who knows that would come out of the woodwork?

But as she told Lena, Kara wasn't afraid. No matter what happened, there would be a Supergirl to save people. There would be a Kara Danvers to help tell the truth. And there would be so much love in Kara's life, enough to keep her going through whatever nightmares might come.

If the future was dark, well, she'd just have to be the light.

"Kara?"

"Hmm?"

"I love you."

"I love you too."

 **THE END**

* * *

 _And that's it. The end. The players take a bow, the curtain falls. The house lights come back on, and everyone goes home._

 _It's always a strange feeling, when I type out THE END. I spend so much time on a thing that I can never fully believe I've come to the final page._

 _I just want to say, you've all been a wonderful audience. Thank you all so much for keeping up with this crazy idea._

 _Some of you might be asking if I'll dive into this well again anytime soon, perhaps for an adaptation of Season 3 of Supergirl. Well, that's an issue. I can't really do the Legion stuff because that leans so heavily on an established character that doesn't exist here. Morgan Edge is an option, as is the Supergirl cult, but both are very small slices of the overall story. And Reign…I've had thoughts about how my Kara and her crew would deal with Reign, and those thoughts lead me to believe that the chief Worldkiller would not be as big a threat as she is canonically. Not that Reign would be weaker, but a vampire Supergirl would just have more options in dealing with her, and that means the same outcome is…unlikely. The first fight alone would certainly go differently. And since she was the strongest of the Worldkillers, the other two would fall swiftly without Reign's interference._

 _With that said, I do have a number of ideas for further adventures of the Vampire of Steel, but it's doubtful that they'll make a continuing story like this has been. I envision it closer to a short story collection. Vignettes and slightly longer tales, some original, some Season 3 adaptations._

 _But I wouldn't hold my breath for it any time soon. I want to deal with some other projects that have been banging around. A few ideas for RWBY and Kingdom Hearts, a different Supergirl story set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a Frozen tale, and this one MASSIVE Kingdom Hearts thing that's been hanging over my head for years now. Things like that. I probably won't come back to this well for a while, but rest assured, that doesn't mean NEVER. I've got too many things for a Blood Ties successor that I'm excited about to let them rot in my Possibilities folder._

 _One day, we'll see Kara and Lena again._

 _Until next time, lovely readers. This is Kung-fu Blaziken, signing off._


End file.
